tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170526722024-03-13T21:06:05.612+00:00Orthodox MonkOn Prayer, Monasticism, Asceticism and the Spiritual LifeOrthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.comBlogger307125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-2116126954959109062016-09-16T14:27:00.000+01:002016-09-16T18:22:47.462+01:00More on the Married Man Becoming a Monk<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.2cm; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: justify; }p.western { font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 11pt; }p.cjk { font-family: "DejaVu Sans",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; }p.ctl { font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; }</style>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
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<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span lang="en-GB">We
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span lang="en-GB">received
a comment on our post </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2008/12/can-divorced-man-become-orthodox-monk.html">Can
a Divorced Man Become an Orthodox Monk?</a> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">from
N.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">F.
Perry. Ordinarily we anonymize the identity of inquirers but Mr
Perry has used his own personal identity in the comment posing his
question and we cannot anonymize </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">it</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">.
Moreover Mr Perry is something of a public figure. Mr Perry’s
comment is this:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Seems
good and clear advice. My own question is: if my marriage (recognized
under civil law of UK) in church has not been registered with any
diocese, can I become a monk without obtaining a civil divorce but
with the consent of my wife? Would appreciate very much your
observation on this situation from the point of view of Orthodox
canon law.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is a somewhat perplexing question. Mr Perry is originally from the
UK. That suggests to us that his marriage was originally in the
Anglican Church. However, he seems to be saying, his marriage,
although recognized under the civil laws of the UK—so that under UK
law Mr Perry and his wife are married—has not been registered with
any (Anglican?) diocese despite the fact of having taken place in a
church (presumably Anglican). Under these circumstances, Mr Perry
wishes to know, can he become a monk without getting a divorce,
merely with the consent of his wife?</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">First
of all we, Orthodox Monk, are not Orthodox canon lawyers or in any
way experts in Orthodox canon law. Moreover we are not a secular
lawyer anywhere. We can only speculate.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next,
we assume that Mr Perry wishes to become a monk in the Orthodox
Church. His biography says that he lived for a time in a monastery
in Crete; such a monastery would ordinarily be Orthodox, Crete being
an island that is part of Greece, where Orthodoxy is the state
religion. Mr Perry has also published a novel about Mt Athos but we
have no idea how much time Mr Perry spent on Mt Athos and the state
of his relations with the monks of Mt Athos.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mr
Perry lives, or has been living, on a property in Chile. We have no
idea if the Orthodox Church is represented in Chile. Chile is a
country where the dominant religion would be Roman Catholicism,
although we imagine that there is a certain amount of religious
pluralism and even outright atheism. Moreover we have absolutely no
idea of Chilean law. So the issue arises of the disposal of the
property in Chile—and any other property in any other country—in
the context of Mr Perry’s entry into a monastery.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
assume that Mr Perry is still a citizen of the UK. We have no idea
of Mr Perry’s status in Chile. Has he become a citizen? Is he a
legal resident of Chile? How does the Chilean state view his status
under Chilean law and especially the status of the property he is
living on in Chile? How will Chilean law view a legal separation
between Mr Perry and his wife executed in the UK (see below)? We
don’t know.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let’s
make some basic observations. You can’t become a monk in the
Orthodox Church unless you are Orthodox. Somewhere along the line Mr
Perry has converted to the Orthodox Church or will convert to the
Orthodox Church. If Mr Perry has not converted and does not intend
to convert to the Orthodox Church we can say nothing since only a
member of the Orthodox Church can become an Orthodox monk. If as a
non-member of the Orthodox Church he wished to take up his abode in
an Orthodox monastery that would depend on the discretion of the
Abbot and the local bishop; however the situation would be unusual
because a non-member of the Orthodox Church could not receive the
sacraments of the Orthodox Church, including monastic tonsure.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next,
the question arises of the status of Mr Perry’s marriage in the
Anglican Church. Is it recognized as a marriage by the Anglican
Church? Mr Perry says that he was married in church but the marriage
was not registered with any diocese. Mr Perry would have to ask an
Anglican canon lawyer or bishop whether he is married in the eyes of
the Anglican Church. We have no idea. This is outside the realm of
our expertise.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Next,
let’s suppose that Mr Perry has converted or is going to convert to
the Orthodox Church. The place where he converts would have an
approach to his Anglican marriage, whether the Orthodox Church
recognized that marriage or not. On this question Mr Perry would
have to ask the people who were receiving him formally into the
Orthodox Church, or if he has been Orthodox for some time, the
monastery where he wished to become a monk. This is a matter that
has to be analyzed concretely in the context of specific places and
specific people where Mr Perry is going to become a member of the
Orthodox Church and/or an Orthodox monk.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
the Orthodox Church you have to become a monk somewhere. There must
be a specific monastery that you become a monk in. That means that
there are specific people—the Abbot, the Council of Elders, the
local Orthodox Bishop—who must be persuaded that they want to make
you a monk in their monastery. Now it is possible that Mr Perry
could become a monk in a monastery in Crete and be sent back to his
property in Chile to live while still depending ecclesiastically on
the monastery where he became a monk, but that is something the
monastic authorities enumerated above would have to agree to.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
we understand that Orthodox canon law views monastic tonsure as
dissolving the marriage and while we think that in Greece in the
Church of Greece or even in a monastery on Mt Athos a signed consent
of the wife to the husband becoming a monk would be sufficient for
the ecclesiastical authorities <i>if the parties to the marriage were
both Greek and Orthodox</i>, we think that the ecclesiastical
authorities would still want some formal disposition of the property
involved in the marriage. However, the situation is far more
complicated in the case of Mr Perry as we have discussed above.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
the above caveats, therefore, we think that the approach would or
should be this. Mr Perry has to go with his wife to a lawyer in the
UK to arrange a legally binding agreement with his wife that they
will be permanently separated until death. This agreement will
stipulate that Mr Perry intends to become a monk in an Orthodox
monastery and that Mr Perry’s wife agrees with that decision. We
are taking the view that a mere written consent of the wife to Mr
Perry becoming an Orthodox monk would be too weak given all the
complications enumerated above. The concrete Orthodox ecclesiastical
authorities with whom Mr Perry was working might disagree and accept
a simple written consent of the wife. We would stand corrected. The
UK legal agreement would stipulate the terms of the permanent
separation with regard to any legal issue that might exist especially
concerning the disposition of any property belonging to one or the
other party to the marriage and any property held in common.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
UK lawyer would have to establish that the agreement would be
recognized to the extent necessary under Chilean law. If for some
reason the Chilean state did not recognize the UK separation
agreement, then something would have to be worked out under Chilean
law for the disposition of property in Chile—and we suppose for the
separation itself. Conceivably the property in Chile would have to
be sold and Mr Perry might have to leave Chile because of legal
issues, we don’t know.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" class="western" style="background: transparent; orphans: 2; text-indent: 1cm; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
the same time that Mr Perry and his wife are working on a legal
separation in the UK, Mr Perry would be discussing with the concrete
Orthodox authorities in the place where he intends to become a member
of the Orthodox Church and/or an Orthodox monk how those Orthodox
ecclesiastical authorities will view his UK separation agreement with
his wife. We would think that if the Orthodox ecclesiastical
authorities were confident that the UK separation agreement was valid
in law both in the UK and in their own legal jurisdiction then they
would be satisfied that Mr Perry could become a monk in the Orthodox
Church, assuming that all other issues had been taken care of.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-32000111650590219722016-04-25T22:17:00.000+01:002016-04-26T13:48:51.694+01:00The Obligations of the Monastic to their Parents<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }a:link { }</style>
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<div align="justify" style="background: transparent; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background: transparent;">We
have received an email from someone who poses the question of the
responsibility of the monastic towards their parents in the light of
Mark, 7, 9 – 13. This person—let us call her Euthymia, after St
Euthymius the Great—poses her question in the context of our post
<a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2011/12/is-rasophore-monk-or-novice.html">Is
a Rasophore a Monk or a Novice?</a> We received Euthymia’s
permission to quote her email and discuss it. Here it is:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="background: transparent; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">Dear
Orthodox Monk,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">I ask for your
blessings and prayers. Thank you for maintaining such an interesting
blog.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">My question has to do
with the penultimate paragraph of the post:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5cm; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent;">“<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">Rasophore
monk Seraphim raises the issue of possible legitimate reasons to
return to the world—aged parents and so on. These things are
pretexts since on the one hand they would have been discussed with
the Abbot before the tonsure and directions given; and, on the other
hand, the monk has no obligations to those in the world such as
Rasophore Monk Seraphim describes. For example, when a married man
becomes a monk, under canon law the marriage is automatically
dissolved. So the monk is free of such worldly obligations; indeed
they must be seen as temptations of the Devil to return him to the
world.”</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">The Lord's teaching in
Mark 7,9 – 13, in the situation of a monk </span><span lang="en-US">or
</span><span lang="en-US">nun whose parents are in need, seems to
imply that the monk </span><span lang="en-US">or </span><span lang="en-US">nun
in question is required to do whatever is necessary to care for the
parents. This principle might be stretched to cover other
situations. How can one offer one's life as a sacrifice to the Lord
via a sinful means—by neglecting love and responsibility to one’s
family? I am curious to know how the Orthodox interpret such
passages. Say, for the sake of argument, that the parents of the
monk or nun fell into unforeseen need after their child was already
tonsured. Is it true that “the monk has no obligations to those in
the world” in such a case?</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span lang="en-US">For the sake of
disclosure, I am not dealing with such a situation; I’m just
curious. This passage has always been fascinating and challenging to
me.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In Christ,</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Euthymia</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let
us start with the passage in question:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">And he said to them: Well you displace
the commandment of God so as to keep your tradition. For Moses said,
“Honour your father and your mother;” and “He who speaks ill to
father or mother, let him die by execution.” But you say, “If a
man say to father or mother, that of mine which would benefit you is
‘Corban’ (which is to say ‘gift’),” then you no longer
allow him to do anything for his father or mother, invalidating the
word of God by your tradition which you have transmitted; and many
other such things do you do. (Mark 7, 9 – 13).</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Let
us clarify the basic meaning of the passage. The Pharisees
maintained certain oral traditions in addition to the Mosaic Law. In
the case at hand, the Pharisees have complained to the Lord that his
disciples have eaten with unwashed hands, something according to the
Pharisee’s tradition the disciples should not have done. The Lord
replies by commenting on a particular tradition of the Pharisees.
That tradition is that if someone says that some property or
possession of his is dedicated to God (this is the meaning of
‘Corban’) then that person’s parents no longer have the right
to be benefited by that property or possession in accordance with the
commandment of Moses.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Euthymia’s
question is how this passage bears on our remark to Seraphim that the
Orthodox monastic leaves his parents behind. Let us turn to some
basics on the monastic vocation.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">First
of all, a monastic vocation is a call from God. It is not human. It
is not something I decide to do because I don’t want to get
married, because I want to dissolve a marriage, because I want to
evade my responsibilities in the world. The most basic passage
concerning the monastic vocation is Matthew 19, 10 – 19:</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But I say to you that he who dismisses
his wife, except on the grounds of adultery, and marries another,
commits adultery. And if she who has been dismissed marries, she
commits adultery. His disciples said to him, If such is the cause of
a man with his wife, it is not profitable to marry. But he said to
them, Not all can contain this word but only those to whom it is
given; and there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s
womb and there are eunuchs who were castrated by men and there are
eunuchs who have castrated themselves for the Kingdom of the Heavens.
He who is able to contain this word, let him contain it. </span>
</div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "urw bookman l";"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">We
discuss the monastic vocation in greater detail in </span><a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2010/05/questions-about-orthodox-monasticism.html"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Questions
about Orthodox Monasticism</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and
</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2010/05/monastic-vocation.html">The
Monastic Vocation</a> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">and we would
recommend that Euthymia read those two posts before continuing.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Now
there are other passages in the Gospel that discuss the relation of
Jesus’ disciple to the disciple’s parents. In Luke, 18, 20 –
21, Jesus says that his mother and brothers are those that hear the
word of God and do it. In Matthew 10, 37 – 38, Jesus says that he
who loves father or mother more than him is not worthy of him and he
who does not take up his cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of
Jesus.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Part
of the monastic calling is the renunciation of the world, including
the family. In other words, in its classic form, monasticism is a
radical renunciation in order to respond to Jesus’ call to love
Jesus and him only, the monastic taking up their cross and following
Jesus to the exclusion of all else. It is in this context that the
Church has understood Matthew 19, 16 – 22 where Jesus counsels the
rich young man, if he wishes to be perfect (and not just to be
saved), to sell all that he has and give to the poor, and to come
follow Jesus. </span>
</div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">What
can be inferred is that if someone has a divine calling to the
monastic state, then that calling supersedes love of parents. This
can be seen in the historical record. In the Pachomian monasteries,
St Theodore the Sanctified refuse<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">s</span> to see his mother who has come
with a letter from the bishop. There are many other such cases.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In
the <i>Ladder of Divine Ascent,</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
St John of Sinai discusses the temptation to the postulant arising
from </span><span style="font-style: normal;">their</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
love for (or attachment to) </span><span style="font-style: normal;">their</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
family. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">John is clear that a
fundamental part of the monastic vocation is renunciation of family.
(In this, we would suggest that Euthymia read Steps 1 and 2 of the
</span><i>Ladder</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> in the Lazarus
Moore translation, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery.)</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">While
Sinaite monasticism is not strictly the same as Egyptian monasticism,
on this point the two traditions agree. This is important since to a
very great extent Egyptian monasticism became the dominant form of
monasticism in the Orthodox Church.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">However,
we would also suggest that Euthymia read all </span><span style="font-style: normal;">of</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
the ascetical works of St Basil the Great, which constitute a
somewhat different tradition in the Orthodox Church. We would think
that the relations between the monastic and the monastic’s parents
would have a somewhat different treatment in Basil’s ascetical
works, especially the Short Rules.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Next,
depending on the tradition within which Euthymia is situated
ecclesiastically, there will have been different historical
evolutions of </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">these</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
basic ascetical tradition</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">s</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">.
By which we mean that if Euthymia were to enter </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">say
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">a
Russian monastery whether in Russia or outside Russia she would
encounter a somewhat different attitude to renunciation of one’s
family than in say a strict Greek monastery. In this regard it
behooves Euthymia to study the historical evolution of monasticism in
the jurisdiction in which she is situated. Two good ways to do this
are the monastic </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>typika</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
(plural of </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>typikon; </i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
monastic </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>typikon</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
is not the liturgical </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">rule</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
but the </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">organizational
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">rule
of the monastery</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">)</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
in her tradition and the lives of the saints in her tradition.
Euthymia should consider, for the Byzantine tradition, looking at the
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">complete
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">collection
of </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">translated
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">monastic
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i>typika</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
in the Byzantine tradition </span></span><a href="http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/byzantine-monastic-foundation-documents"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">published
free online by Dumbarton Oaks</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">.
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">She
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">should
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">also
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">seek
out the best translations of the best texts of the lives of the
saints—preferably those written by an immediate disciple.
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Dumbarton
Oaks publishes online </span></span><a href="http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/books-in-print/holy-women-of-byzantium-ten-saintsa-lives-in"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">a
free set of 10 lives of woman saints in the Byzantine Tradition</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
and also </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">free</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">
<a href="http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/books-in-print/the-life-of-lazaros-of-mt-galesion-an-eleventh">the
very important life of St Lazaros of Mt Galesion</a>. Also relevant
would be the Sayings of the Desert Fathers but the offerings in
English are minimal, the best work having been done by French
Catholic scholars and published </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">in
Latin or Greek with French translation </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">in
</span></span><a href="http://www.sourceschretiennes.mom.fr/"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Sources
Chrétiennes</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></i></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">W</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;">e
would also suggest that </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Euthymia</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
spend some time in a good woman’s monastery in </span><span style="font-style: normal;">the
home country of </span><span style="font-style: normal;">her
jurisdiction in order to discuss these matters with the nuns and
perhaps the Abbess, so that </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Euthymia</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
can understand how her jurisdiction at its best understands these
issues. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">In this regard we
might remark that monasticism in the Orthodox diaspora is not always
in its ideal condition.</span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-81548044148004461252016-02-19T21:49:00.000+00:002016-02-19T21:49:59.213+00:00Clarifying Remarks on a Post<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }a.cjk:link { }a.ctl:link { }</style>
<br />
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“<span lang="en-US">Abcd
Efgh” has posted a comment on “</span><span lang="en-US"><a class="western" href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.ca/2015/06/love-as-spiritual-lens-through-which-to.html">Love
as a Spiritual Lens Through Which to View the Gospel</a>” </span><span lang="en-US">which
reads:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why is a person who leaves the family,
having been brought up badly, wrong? I don't get it, isn't it better
for the person to leave? (signed Abcd Efgh)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here
is the passage that “Abcd Efgh” is commenting on:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let
us take another example.
A young person has been brought up badly. They have left school and
family and are living on
their own. This is not an ideal Christian life. They have made an
effort to resume their education but spiritually they are among
lost ones. Perhaps, however,
less lost than many still in school. They have spiritual interests.
However, the first obstacle to their conversion is the notion of sin.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Will
they find someone with love in their heart to guide them to Christ?
For let us look at such a young person’s encounter
with the notion of personal sin. A young person sins—in this day
and age, who knows how? But they have spiritual interests. In some
way God is calling to them, to their heart. God is calling them to
Life. But the first thing they hear is, “Repent!” In the hands of
the unloving preacher this is the road to an authoritarian judgmental
Christianity; in the hands of the loving Elder or confessor, this is
the beginning of a conversion to an Orthodoxy that is not formalist
but a mystagogy of Life and Truth.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What
“Abcd Efgh” thinks we mean is not what we mean. In saying that
the person in question has left school and family and is living on
their own and that this is not an ideal Christian life, we are
not saying the person was wrong to leave. We are
being descriptive. We do not know why the person left.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What
we meant is that for a young person to leave school and family and
live on their own is not ideal. It’s not the best situation for
someone to be in. An analogy might make this clear. Someone has
gangrene—let’s say they were caught in a blizzard and got
frostbite. So the doctor cuts their leg off and gives them a
motorized wheelchair. This is not an ideal personal situation.
People should have two legs and walk around like everyone else.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Similarly
in the ideal situation a
young person needs their family, needs school. Circumstances may
have been such that the person
really had no choice but to
leave—we are not judging—but
the new situation is not ideal from a Christian or even from a
psychological perspective. Indeed if you look at traditional
cultures, not only is it
the norm that the child stays with the parents until fairly old, but
that child
is even inserted within the extended family (grandparents, aunts,
uncles and so on). Now sometimes this leads to intolerable
situations—in Indian Hindu culture the bride goes to live with her
husband who remains in the family home, where
bride’s mother-in-law is often harsh with
the bride—but it has to be
recognized that although adolescence is a time of breaking away and
establishing one’s own identity, it is also a time when
the child needs emotional support, and in the case at hand, schooling
to be able to take up a role in society. Moreover, as a practical
matter for an adolescent to be living on their own is certainly
opening them to sin.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now
as we pointed out, the person has spiritual interests and might even
be in better shape than many still in school.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The
person is where they are. God knows why they left and how
intolerable the situation was. We don’t. But everyone on the face
of the earth sometime has to turn to God. God meets us where we are.</span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-52615772193055436412015-12-25T16:23:00.000+00:002015-12-25T16:24:05.187+00:00Reply to a Comment<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }a:link { }</style>
<br />
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
reader has posted a comment on our post, <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.ca/2005/10/comments-on-vows-of-tonsure-to-great.html">Comments
on the Vows of the Tonsure to the Great Schema</a>. We tried to
reply with a comment but for some reason it doesn’t work. Here’s
our reply:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
married man can become a monk but by becoming a monk he dissolves the
marriage in the eyes of the Church. However, the secular authorities
would probably not recognize his action as dissolving the marriage.
He would therefore at the least be liable for whatever actions and
penalties under the secular law someone who had abandoned his wife
and children would be liable to. However he himself would be bound
to celibacy for the rest of his life.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
Greece in the 19th Century, the Government under the Bavarian King's
Protestant advisors attacked Greek Orthodox monasticism forcing many
monks and nuns to marry—but this was a persecution of the Church.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
only instance of married monks is in Japan where in the 19th Century,
if we remember correctly, the Meiji Dynasty forced Buddhist monks to
be married by law. This of course is a contradiction in terms for a
Buddhist monk. There are even today married Buddhist monks, and even
married Buddhist Abbots, in Japan. We have no information on how
they live with their wives.</span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-2561318942781900092015-06-25T19:50:00.000+01:002015-06-28T16:31:20.908+01:00Some Questions on the Jesus Prayer<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }a:link { }</style>
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<div align="left" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
have received a very charming email from a woman we will call Janice
Gaines. She is considering becoming Orthodox and has some questions.
Here is the anonymized email, slightly edited for style:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear
Orthodox Monk:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Providence
has been indeed Divine these past few months.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Long,
super long, very long story short: Orthodox Christianity has this
born and raised Roman Catholic, though lapsed for decades, seriously
interested and in consideration of conversion.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
journey has been fortuitous as it has led me to on-line places and
videos rich with information, tradition, music, and serenity.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finding
your blog, quite by accident, earlier this evening had me reading
page after page after page and finding a treasure trove of answers,
further reading materials, meticulous writing (style), and a sense of
humour I very much appreciate.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am considering you, and of course, your blog, my blessing for the
day.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear
Orthodox Monk, I do have a question regarding the Jesus Prayer: In
my on-line travels, logging thousands of pages already, I recall an
older, mentor monk speaking about the Jesus Prayer being ‘dangerous’
for a novice (monk).</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">How
can a prayer, especially one so tender, offered by a sinner to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and begging His mercy, be considered dangerous?</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
the Prayer is ‘dangerous’ on the lips of a novice, am I ‘safe’
in its recitation?</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
Russian pronunciation is improving by leaps and bounds and I have
found the greatest comfort in chanting the Jesus Prayer along with
the Valaam Monastery Choir's twenty-one minute video
(YouTube)—switching the last syllable to the feminine of course.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Too,
in the pages of your blog, a young man remarked that in Greek
Orthodoxy, the Jesus Prayer, at least to him, was considered a great
‘secret’ he feared would become trademarked if the true power of
the Prayer were known.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am confounded, dear Orthodox Monk, and I hope you will illuminate.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">With
sincere appreciation for your learned responses and the time and
effort you expend on your blog, I thank you for considering my
question for a reply.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">God
bless you.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Janice</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Let us take the questions about the Jesus
Prayer first. There are a number of stages in the practice of the
Jesus Prayer, from simple group recitation perhaps with a YouTube
video 20 minutes once or twice a day, to 24-hour a day, 7-day a week
recitation in solitude a cave. At the latter stage the recitation is
automatic even in sleep; the Prayer is repeated with the mind in the
heart; the practitioner may be practising breath control. It should
be clear to Janice that this advanced form of the Jesus Prayer is
dangerous for the novice monk—and perhaps even for the advanced
monk. So there is a spectrum of practice of the Jesus Prayer and
cautions have to be understood in the context of where on the
spectrum of practice the cautioner is positioning the practitioner.
Moreover, no one can say where precisely on the spectrum the Jesus
Prayer ceases to be safe and becomes dangerous. Many factors
concerning the person praying enter into question—their personal
history, their ecclesiastical situation, their medical health,
whether they have a guide, whether they are leading a moral life,
whether they go regularly to confession and communion, their family
and work and economic situation and so on. For a healthy individual,
there is much less danger repeating the Jesus Prayer 20 minutes a day
than repeating it all the time in solitude. Similarly, risk in
practising the Jesus Prayer is reduced for a member of the Orthodox
Church without mental health problems who is leading a moral life.
Similarly for someone who is getting along with their family, has a
job they like, is economically self-sufficient and is generally not
under stress.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We might make some remarks on factors
that enter into the question of dangers of the repetition of the
Jesus Prayer. However, we can only issue general guidelines; Janice
needs a personal guide if she wants personal guidance.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">There are several reasons why the Jesus
Prayer might become dangerous. First of all, it is the repetition of
a short sentence. The repetition itself necessarily stresses the
brain. If there are genetically-based mental illnesses involved that
stress might precipitate a crisis. This should be clear. But risk
is increased if the person is under stress. This should also be
clear.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Moreover, the formula of the Jesus Prayer
is a formula which in Roman Catholic parlance is an act of repentance
or contrition. In the healthy individual, no problem. But in a
person with emotional problems, such an emphasis on repentance and
contrition might provoke an emotional crisis—or, more likely,
exacerbate an existing emotional crisis or condition.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Next, the Jesus Prayer is a prayer that
arises out of Orthodox Egypt in the 4<sup>th</sup> Century. It is
very heavily contextualized by that fact in its historical
development. Decontextualizing the Jesus Prayer—say by treating it
one form among many of yoga—is fraught with spiritual and emotional
and intellectual danger. It behoves Janice to make an effort to
understand the Jesus Prayer from an Orthodox point of view, so that
she prays it in an Orthodox way. This is indeed a general caution
for all those practitioners, such as Eastern-Rite Catholics,
Western-Rite Catholics, Protestants and others, who practise the
Jesus Prayer ‘without the Orthodox mumbo-jumbo.’</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">And here we might remark on the
trademarking of the Jesus Prayer that Janice alludes to. We don’t
recall the passage in the blog she is referring to but the problem is
that in America everyone wants the ‘quick fix,’ the easily used
and marketed product. That seems to be what the person was referring
to. However, the problem is that because of the contextualization of
the Jesus Prayer in Orthodox tradition such a packaging is
necessarily going to bastardize the practice of the Prayer. On the
one hand, the purchaser gets watered-down adulterated goods; on the
other hand the adulterated goods might be (spiritually) dangerous or
even poisonous.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In this regard we might make a remark in
passing that one ordinarily prays the Jesus Prayer in their native
tongue. While we laud Janice on her studies of Russian and on her
repeating the Jesus Prayer in Russian (necessary if she is going to
be repeating it along with a video from Valaam Monastery), she should
understand that in Elder Sophrony (Sakharov’s) monastery in Essex
(Monastery of St John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights), the Prayer is
repeated in a group setting in English even though Elder Sophrony was
Russian, Athonite and a disciple of St Silouan the Athonite, also
Russian.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Next, ultimately the practitioner of the
Jesus Prayer is entering into conflict with the powers of darkness in
a battle over their own soul. This is not the sort of language that
is popular but it is the Orthodox tradition. Elder Sophrony’s book
<i>St Silouan the Athonite </i>is good on this. The problem here is
that the foolhardy practitioner might out of pride or conceit enter
into battle without the support of the Great General, the Holy
Spirit. Another metaphor might be that until you know how to swim,
don’t jump in the deep end. So this is a caution saying that if
you head for the more advanced end of the spectrum of practice before
you are ready, you are in great danger: the downside risk is losing
the battle and being possessed by a demon.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Next, because the advanced practitioner
is entering into spiritual battle, their free will necessarily comes
into play. An advanced practitioner of the Jesus Prayer is
continually making choices as they deal with their ongoing thought
processes in a conscious psychological state where they are faced
with accepting or rejecting thoughts that come to them. They might
make a mistake. Hence, before they enter into such an intense
interior battle, they have to have their judgement trained.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Finally, advanced practitioners of the
Jesus Prayer have visions. They might be real. So far so good. But
they might be temptations. If the practitioner accepts the
temptation, disaster. Again, <i>St Silouan the Athonite </i>is good
on this. After an authentic vision of the risen Christ, St Silouan
was over the years twice deceived by false visions while praying the
Jesus Prayer in an advanced way.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Now let us turn to the broader issue of
Janice’s possible conversion to Orthodoxy. First of all, a rule of
thumb is that if she decides to remain Roman Catholic then she should
practice a Roman Catholic form of spirituality. It simply doesn’t
work to transplant an Orthodox tradition into Catholicism.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We would certainly encourage Janice to
become Orthodox, but we would like to make the following remark.
Orthodoxy, unless the person is drawn by the Holy Spirit, is a closed
book. Even pious members of non-Orthodox Christian denominations
can’t get past the surface of Orthodoxy, the ritual. They don’t
see anything there beyond the ritual. Only from the inside of
Orthodoxy is the mystagogy that is embedded in the ritual alive. And
ultimately that is what Janice wants.</span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">However, to make a genuine conversion to
Orthodoxy, Janice must find Orthodoxy. This is not as easy as it
might seem, there being in the United States a plethora of
jurisdictions with all kinds of different issues—from rampant
secularism to conservative ritualism and formalism. Janice has to
pray for God to guide her steps. </span>
</div>
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Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-3229545505976321842015-06-14T22:47:00.000+01:002015-06-14T22:51:39.679+01:00Getting New Blog Posts<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }a:link { }</style>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">S</span><span style="font-size: small;">omeone
has written to us. They are a University instructor. We point this
out because apart from complimenting the blog they state that they
can only make comments on the blog if they open a Google account but
they want to see how many years they can go without opening one. So
what we are saying to this person is, there is already enough about
you on the Internet that we know where and what you teach: is having
a perhaps anonymous Google account going to be more revealing of you?
Be that as it may, in answer to your question about receiving new
blog posts without a Google account, if you look on the right hand
margin of the blog below (after) ‘Topics’ you should see this:</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
you click on ‘Posts,’ you should see this:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Click
on ‘Atom’ and follow the instructions. This will generate an
automatically updated bookmark in your Browser.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Also, in ancient times we found that allowing anonymous comments created problems so we selected the option that requires you to have a perhaps anonymous account in one of a few places. We don't see how we could change this. </span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-45310151734528012732015-06-14T22:26:00.000+01:002015-06-14T22:26:39.442+01:00Love as a Spiritual Lens Through Which to View the Gospel
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
have </span><span style="font-size: small;">been thinking
about the role of love in the interpretation of the Gospel. It seems
to us that the experience of love in the heart acts as a lens through
which we perceive the lived experience of being Orthodox. Let us
look carefully at this love. Diadochos of Photiki speaks of an
intermediate stage where one has not attained to perfect love but one
has an increase in love. This is a love given by the Holy Spirit.
</span><span style="font-size: small;">It is not a love of the
flesh nor a natural (sentimental) love, although it may implicate
elements of both.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also,
we are habitually praying with the mind in the heart, so this love is
encountered in the heart consciously. </span><span style="font-size: small;">So
what we encounter is the experience of a partial love in a partially
opened heart. Nothing is perfect. Much suffering has gone into the
opening of the heart; there is no other way for th</span><span style="font-size: small;">e
heart to open and without the heart being open this love cannot be
lived</span><span style="font-size: small;">. So we can
consciously experience this love for others and for Christ. This
experience acts as a spiritual lens through which we see the elements
of the Gospel.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
us look at some practical examples. Let us take the fundamental
message of the Gospel: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at
hand.” We all know the story. Adam and Eve in Paradise were
created perfect but spiritually infant-like. Eve was tempted and
fell; she gave the fruit to Adam; he accepted and fell. Original
Sin. Guilt. “All fall short of the Glory of God.” This is very
much an element of the Protestant, especially Calvinist,
interpretation of the Bible. We are to acknowledge our sinfulness
before God; he will save us.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now
the issue is not the core of the Gospel; it is what it is. The issue
is how we understand the core of the Gospel. With the love we spoke
of—or without. For viewing the Gospel through the lens of this
love in the heart, we understand that God’s primary motivation is
that he loves us and wants us to be happy. So yes it is true; we
have sinned in Adam and by ourselves. But God’s ultimate intention
in telling us this is not to punish us but to save us. It’s just a
spiritual fact that we cannot be saved </span><span style="font-size: small;">unless</span><span style="font-size: small;">
we </span><span style="font-size: small;">confess</span><span style="font-size: small;">
our sins.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is very very hard for a man to acknowledge his sins and in the hands
of an unloving preacher a man can be destroyed at this point. The
unloving preacher might turn the sinner into twice as much an
authoritarian hater of man as himself. However, if a man have love
in his heart then he recognizes that the confession of sins from the
heart, from the inner core of one’s being, is not self-destruction
but the door to life. And he also recognizes that the only possible
way that he can receive the forgiveness of sins is if he himself
forgives those who have sinned against him. So as we have said, it
is not the core message of the Gospel that has changed but how that
message is perceived and lived: with love or without.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
us take another example. Someone is celebrating the Divine Liturgy.
As everyone knows, the Orthodox liturgy is complex. Someone without
love can see it as a set of external rigid rules to be obeyed and
argued about. They might even think that the heart of Orthodoxy is
the flawless external performance of the Liturgy. However, a
celebrant with love in his heart sees the typikon as the structure of
an encounter with God in love. He knows which mistakes in the
performance of the liturgy are important and which can be overlooked
</span><span style="font-size: small;">and</span><span style="font-size: small;">
perhaps corrected at another time.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
priest or Elder is hearing confessions. Here of course the confessor
or Elder with and without love is well known by his fruits. The
priest or Elder with love in his heart is easily approachable and
non-condemnatory—although again he knows what is an important part
of the Gospel that must be obeyed and what is secondary; he knows the
intentions of the heart. We are not in the least suggesting that
this love in the heart relatives or “modernizes” Christianity so
that what </span><span style="font-size: small;">was</span><span style="font-size: small;">
sin is no longer sin. But again, the confessor knows that God’s
intention is to save the wayward sheep in the wilderness not to kill
and eat it.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
some respects this love in the heart changes our perception of the
Gospel in the way that a performer changes the feel of a musical
melody. The melody is the same but the interpretation </span><span style="font-size: small;">of
love </span><span style="font-size: small;">gives a different
</span><span style="font-size: small;">feel</span><span style="font-size: small;">
to the music.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
us take an</span><span style="font-size: small;">other</span><span style="font-size: small;">
example. A young person has been brought up badly. They have left
school </span><span style="font-size: small;">and family </span><span style="font-size: small;">and
</span><span style="font-size: small;">are living</span><span style="font-size: small;">
on their own. </span><span style="font-size: small;">This is
not an ideal Christian life. </span><span style="font-size: small;">They
have made an effort to resume their education but </span><span style="font-size: small;">spiritually
</span><span style="font-size: small;">they are </span><span style="font-size: small;">among</span><span style="font-size: small;">
lost ones. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps,
however, less lost than many still in school. They have spiritual
interests. However, the first obstacle to their conversion is the
notion of sin.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Will
they find someone with love in their heart to guide them to Christ?
For let us look at </span><span style="font-size: small;">such
a young person’s</span><span style="font-size: small;">
encounter with the notion of personal sin. A young person sins—in
this day and age, who knows how? But they have spiritual interests.
In some way God is calling to them, to their heart. God is calling
them to Life. But the first thing they hear is, “Repent!” In
the hands of the unloving preacher this is the road to an
authoritarian judgmental Christianity; in the hands of the loving
Elder or confessor, this is the beginning of a conversion to an
Orthodoxy that is not formalist but a mystagogy of Life and Truth.</span></span></div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-10050890286702319972015-04-18T21:11:00.003+01:002015-04-18T21:11:51.103+01:00Received a Comment, Need Verification<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We have just received a comment from someone purporting to be the father of a well-known person. We have no way of communicating with this commenter. To this commenter, we wish to say that it will be necessary before we even READ your comment that you contact us by email. We will then discuss the verification of your identity.</span></span><br />
<br />Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-51494767603565899392014-10-09T01:37:00.000+01:002014-10-09T01:37:49.805+01:00Return to the Blog<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; line-height: 120%; }a:link { }</style>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
just wanted to let our readers know that having finished our project
we are back on the blog.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Someone
has submitted a comment to <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.ca/2014/06/medical-aspects-of-monastic-vocation.html#comment-form">Medical
Aspects of the Monastic Vocation</a>. We do not wish to publish it
in full. In part it reads:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The late … in … suffered from
bi-polar disorder. Much of her … [work was] produced during her
manic periods, because she either did not or could not take the
proper medication. And don't forget St. Pimen the Sickly of the
Kievan Caves, a bed-bound invalid, who was miraculously tonsured by
the Holy Angels themselves. The State Church of Greece, unless I am
mistaken, has provision for women to be tonsured as nuns and maintain
their own residences and livings. …</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
will comment on this in a separate post.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
addition we would like to ask how many of our readers would be
interested in a full, formatted print-out of the blog. Please let us
know in a comment.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
—<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Orthodox
Monk</span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-45834476366213887652014-09-12T21:49:00.001+01:002014-09-14T08:02:21.199+01:00The Mission of the Church
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
mission of the Church. We all know that Christ sent the Apostles to
preach to all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All
authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Going, make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep
all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you (plural) all
the days up to the consummation of the Age. Amen. (Mat. 28, 18–20.)</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of
course the history of Christianity is intimately connected to the
missionary activity of the various Christian denominations. What we
would like to reflect on, however, is the nature of this mission of
the Church.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let
us suppose that the Church is inserted into a city in the modern West
the population of which is in part de-churched and in part dispersed
among the various Protestant, largely, churches but also the Roman
Catholic church. What is the mission of the Orthodox Church?</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
a large extent, the various jurisdictions of the Orthodox Church view
their mission as a ministry to the members of their ‘ethnic group
of origin’. If it’s the Greeks, then they worry about the
Greeks; if it’s the Russians, they worry about the Russians. If
you’re not part of the ‘ethnic group of origin’ then we’re
not interested. And to a large extent the mission is seen in ethnic
terms: the Church is seen as a bearer of ethnic identity, even ethnic
political identity. The church can even be seen as the bearer of a
nationalist political ideal. Of course there are two major
exceptions: the Orthodox Church in America and the Church of Antioch
both have a consciously missionary orientation, largely Protestant
influenced.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Roman Catholic church on the other hand largely views itself in
universalistic, transnational terms—although it is certainly not
above getting mixed up in national or nationalist politics. It
largely sees its missionary work in terms of developing an
educational and/or health system that will bring unchurched locals
into contact with the Catholic church in a positive way. In this
model of evangelization, the long view is taken: the culture is to be
Catholicized by the interaction of locals with the Roman Catholic
services provided: the children who attend the Catholic school grow
up with, hopefully, a positive view of the Roman Catholic church so
that while those children might not themselves convert, the Roman
Catholic church establishes a presence in the local society and
eventually begins to make converts.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
far we have said nothing new, although some people might dispute our
characterization of one or another Christian group’s practices.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What
we would like to reflect on here, however, is the substance of St
Paul’s remark in 2 Corinthians 5, 17-21:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
one is in Christ he is a new creation. The ancient things have
passed; behold all things have become new. All things are from God
who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, giving us the
ministry of reconciliation. So that God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself, not reckoning to them their sins and
establishing in us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we speak on
behalf of Christ, as interceding with God on your behalf. We beseech
on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. For he made him who did
not know sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the
righteousness of God in him.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is perhaps not accidental that this message is at the core of those
Protestant denominations that preach a born-again experience. And it
is also true that as we have occasionally remarked that this
Protestant born-again Christianity can be quite authoritarian, doing
psychological violence to its converts.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
seems to us that the ministry of reconciliation of the Orthodox
Church, which includes both its mission <i>ad extra</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and its mission </span><i>ad intra, </i><span style="font-style: normal;">is
one of love. And the key to this love is not a sentimental love—</span><span style="font-style: normal;">a</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
love which passes away—but the love given by the Holy Spirit. How
is this love given? First of all this love is encountered as the
presence of the Holy Spirit in the person preaching the Gospel. In
the Orthodox Church, the transforming effect of the </span><i>staretz
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">or Elder is well known and well
attested. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">I</span><span style="font-style: normal;">n
the West </span><span style="font-style: normal;">S</span><span style="font-style: normal;">t
Seraphim of Sarov is perhaps the best-known such </span><i>staretz</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
although Elder Paisios of more recent times was very well known for
the transforming effect of his love on his interlocutor. Although
such </span><i>startsy</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> or Elders
may perform miracles, it is the</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ir</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
love which captivates and transforms the sinner, a love which is not
judgemental nor of the flesh—a love which Elder Paisios himself
called a Gospel love. Th</span><span style="font-style: normal;">is
Gospel</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> love is clearly the
operation of the Holy Spirit in the </span><i>staretz </i><span style="font-style: normal;">or
Elder.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Now
how do we appropriate that love for ourselves? Through </span><span style="font-style: normal;">B</span><span style="font-style: normal;">aptism.
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">As we have been taught by
the Fathers, it is baptism which grants us the forgiveness of sins,
cleanses our soul and puts in</span><span style="font-style: normal;">to</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
our soul the Holy Spirit so that we are transformed. It is Baptism
which makes us a new creation. It is baptism which reconciles us to
God. However, as we have been taught, while Baptism grants us the
forgiveness of sins, the restoration of the image of God </span><span style="font-style: normal;">in
us </span><span style="font-style: normal;">and the pledge of the Holy
Spirit, it is up to us to put into practice the word of the Gospel
that the Kingdom of God is taken by violence: </span><span style="font-style: normal;">after
baptism </span><span style="font-style: normal;">we must make an
effort to restore our likeness to God by </span><span style="font-style: normal;">an</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
essentially ascetical endeavour. This is true for all Orthodox
Christians, not only monastics.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moreover,
since we are human and fallible, there is the ministry of
reconciliation after our baptism through repentance, tears and the
priest.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Although
most Christian denominations maintain the same structure of belief as
outlined </span><span style="font-style: normal;">here</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
(except among Protestants concerning personal ascetical endeavour
after </span><span style="font-style: normal;">B</span><span style="font-style: normal;">aptism),
there is a quite different ‘flavour’ among various Christian
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">group</span><span style="font-style: normal;">s
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">as regards how</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
this structure is actualized. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">The
Roman Catholic church has historically been very rationalistic and
legalistic; the various Protestant groups can be very sentimental or
authoritarian. H</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ere </span><span style="font-style: normal;">w</span><span style="font-style: normal;">e
want to emphasize the role of </span><span style="font-style: normal;">spiritual
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">love </span><span style="font-style: normal;">in
the Orthodox Church.</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Since
this love is an operation of the Holy Spirit, it is not emotional but
spiritual. Moreover, in the Orthodox Church, the encounter with
Truth is neither humanly rationalistic nor humanly emotional. It is
the encounter of the person with the Holy Spirit within. It is the
Holy Spirit within us which bears witness to the truth of Orthodoxy,
not the rational arguments of the Roman Catholic nor the emotional or
authoritarian fixations of the born-again Protestant.</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
Although love can perhaps be over-emphasized—sometimes the sinner
should be reminded of the </span><span style="font-style: normal;">J</span><span style="font-style: normal;">udgement—in
a healthy conversion or repentance it is ultimately the warmth of
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">spiritual </span><span style="font-style: normal;">love
which converts the sinner to Christ. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">For
Christ is calling the sinner not to an authoritarian, emotionally
violent and conflicted life but to participation in the inner life of
the Holy Trinity through the Holy Spirit. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Ultimately
God is a God of love. It is for love that we were created. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">O</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ur
reconciliation to God is a reconciliation of the sinner to the love
of God, to the love of the Father, </span><span style="font-style: normal;">so
that the reconciled sinner loves God in return</span><span style="font-style: normal;">.
And this love is a love to the Ages. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">A
little earlier in 2 Corinthians 5, St Paul writes:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">For
we know that if our earthly dwelling of the tent </span><span style="font-style: normal;">[i.e.
body] </span><span style="font-style: normal;">is dissolved we have a
building from God, an eternal dwelling in the Heavens not made with
hands. And for that reason we sigh in this dwelling, greatly
desiring to be clothed with our dwelling which is from Heaven; and if
clothed then we will not be found naked. And we who are in the body
sigh, weighed down since we do not wish to be unclothed but to be
clothed, so that what is mortal </span><span style="font-style: normal;">be</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
swallowed up by Life. God </span><span style="font-style: normal;">is
he </span><span style="font-style: normal;">who works us to this very
thing, he who has also given us the pledge of the Spirit. Therefore
seeing that sojourning in the body we are absent from the Lord </span><span style="font-style: normal;">we
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">always tak</span><span style="font-style: normal;">e</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
courage. For we walk by faith not by sight. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">But
w</span><span style="font-style: normal;">e take courage and rather
look forward to depart</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ing</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
from the body </span><span style="font-style: normal;">to sojo</span><span style="font-style: normal;">urn
with the Lord. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">And so</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
whether sojourning or departing we act with a sense of honour </span><span style="font-style: normal;">so
as</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> to be pleasing to him.
For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, each to
obtain </span><span style="font-style: normal;">that which</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
is appropriate to what he has done, whether good or bad.</span></span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-41641737071765043792014-06-02T05:34:00.000+01:002014-06-02T05:34:02.205+01:00Medical Aspects of the Monastic Vocation
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<br />
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
have received a very interesting email from a woman we shall call
‘Sarah Jean’. Here is the email, with some of the details
altered:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear
Orthodox Monk:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
just started reading your blog, and have enjoyed it immensely. I was
just writing because I have a question.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
am interested in becoming an Orthodox nun one day, but I have a
health condition. This condition does not keep me from leading a
normal life, but I have to take medication for it. Because of this,
I am going to have to have health insurance. I was just wondering if
I even have a chance of being considered for the monastic life.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thank
you for everything.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sincerely,</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sarah</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
issue here is whether a pre-existing medical condition might prevent
Sarah or anyone else from joining an Orthodox monastery.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
are a number of aspects to this question. The first is the economic
issue of whether Sarah Jean can expect to be accepted into an
Orthodox monastery in the United States when she has a pre-existing
condition that requires medical insurance—obviously because someone
has to pay for the medication that she will have to take for the rest
of her life.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is part of a broader issue. Let us suppose that we screen random
young men or women in the population for pre-existing ailments,
removing those who have them so that we are left with 100 healthy
young men or women. Now let us put them into a monastery of monks or
nuns as the case may be for the rest of their lives. Obviously some
of these healthy young men and women are going to fall sick over
their lifetimes. They might have dental problems. They might have a
hidden ailment that is genetically based that comes to light after 20
years in the monastery. They might get cancer. They might have an
accident in a workshop or in a car. They might get mentally ill.
Any number of things can and might happen. So what then?</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Should
the monastery accept postulants and make them monks or nuns for only
as long as they are healthy, expelling them if they get sick? Should
the monastery demand that each postulant have enough money to
purchase medical insurance for the rest of their life before they
enter the monastery? Obviously not. Clearly the monastery has to
make some provision for the medical and dental care of its monks or
nuns. This can range from private medical insurance to
self-insurance (i.e. the monastery is wealthy enough to pay its
monastics’ medical bills out of pocket) to government medical
insurance in those countries that have such a thing. So the clever
postulant would inquire what the policy is of the monastery that they
are thinking of entering concerning medical issues.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now
we can see that Sarah Jean must necessarily ask about such a thing
even if she isn’t clever at all—she needs medication every day
and someone has to pay for it.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now
every monastery is different and every monastery will have a formal
or informal policy on the matter. It seems to us that just as the
monastery will want to know about each postulant’s medical history
each postulant will want to know about the monastery’s policy on
medical and dental treatment. Only the foolish, naïve postulant
will accept an answer that God provides or similar handwaving.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now,
as far as we know Sarah Jean is thinking of joining a monastery in
the United States. We frankly don’t understand Obamacare and its
ramifications for the medical treatment of monks or nuns on a
lifetime basis. This is not because we have a political position.
Rather, just as a practical matter we don’t know what the
implications of Obamacare are on this point. We do know that some
countries have cradle-to-grave medical care for citizens and perhaps
even for legal residents of the country who are not citizens.
Certainly Sarah Jean could join a monastery in a country in which the
state would cover her medical expenses for the rest of her life,
assuming that Sarah Jean was happy with the country and the monastery
and could integrate into the culture of the country; and both the
monastery and the country were happy with Sarah Jean. St John of
Sinai recommends ‘exile’—living in a foreign country as part of
the monastic vocation—but not everyone is capable of doing that or
even willing to do it.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is something that Sarah Jean will have to discuss with the monastery
she is thinking of joining. For to become a nun, Sarah Jean will
have to join a specific monastery; there’s no other way to become a
nun. Same for becoming a monk.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
this is the economic dimension.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now
there is another dimension. That is the impact </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">of a pre-existing medical condition</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> on the potential
monastic vocation. This is a
delicate matter and we do not want to offend anyone. There is a
broad spectrum of pre-existing conditions that a person might have.
Some of them are purely physical but some of them involve
genetically-based emotional disorders. In general, a medical
condition that allows a person to live normally if the proper
medication is taken should not affect a monastic vocation. However,
it should be understood that the monastic vocation is a struggle
towards perfection and therefore inherently more stressful than
married life in the world. Hence given the specific medical
condition that Sarah Jean has (and we have no idea what it is) one
would have to assess the effect of the monastic life on the potential evolution
of the condition.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
can see that simple physical problems—let us say that the body does
not produce a certain enzyme and the person has to take the enzyme
orally—should have minimal effect on the vocation.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However,
because of the stress inherent in the monastic vocation complex
emotional problems might have a very serious evolution were the
person to become a monastic, so much so that major mental illness is
normally considered to be a natural impediment to the monastic
vocation.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
the middle are more complex physical ailments such as type 1
diabetes, which requires constant medical monitoring and which has
serious ramifications both for the physical and for the mental
wellbeing of the person suffering from it. That is, while the person
suffering from type 1 diabetes might well be able to carry on a
successful professional career, their lives are by no means simple
and it is not at all obvious that they would be able to become a
monastic. In these middle cases, the monastery would have to make a
discernment whether it was the will of God for the person to
undertake a monastic vocation and whether it was the will of God for
the person to undertake the monastic vocation in <i>that </i>monastery.
Two different questions. In our example of type 1 diabetes, it
might be that the person has a vocation but to a specific monastery
where their condition can for some reason easily be monitored—maybe
the monastery is next door to the local diabetes clinic.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also
in the middle are complex neurological conditions.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
thinking about this issue of pre-existing conditions, one should also
consider the following. Going back to our hypothetical example of
100 postulants who are perfectly healthy, assuming that they were all
to become monastics in our hypothetical monastery, some of them will
develop a condition where they no longer produce a certain enzyme and
have to take the enzyme the rest of their lives; some of them will
develop major mental illness; and some of them will develop if not
type 1 diabetes, then type 2 diabetes, which can be just as difficult
to manage as type 1 diabetes. Moreover, some of the 100 postulants
will ultimately develop neurological illness, whether Alzheimer’s
or multiple sclerosis or whatever.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
from the point of view of the monastery there has to be the
possibility of caring for these people who started off healthy but no
longer are healthy across the full spectrum of possible medical conditions.
This is both economic and spiritual. In other words it’s not just
a matter of paying for these persons’ medical care, but of being
able to care for these people emotionally and spiritually within the confines of the monastery.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally,
in considering a vocation the monastery has to consider the
following. What is going to be the effect on the rest of the
monastic community if the person under consideration is accepted?
Let us take the obvious case to see what we mean. Let us suppose
that we accept someone who is medicated for serious mental illness
into the monastery. Is the monastery resilient enough to accept the
stress of the entry of that person into the monastery without
excessive distortion of the monastery’s social system? A monastery
is not a refuge; it is a wrestling arena for healthy people to strive
for perfection. Hence if the monastery is large and robust, it might
conceivably be able to accept such a person into the monastery
without a distortion of its fundamental purpose. However, if the
monastery is not so large or not so robust, acceptance of such a
person might distort the social system of the monastery so much that
the monastery no longer meets its primary objective of providing a
wrestling arena for healthy people to achieve spiritual perfection.
In such a case, there is going to be a crisis in the monastery
because the serious spiritual seekers will be disappointed and leave.
This model analysis applies to all medical conditions from the
simplest and mildest to the most extreme.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So
to summarize:</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1.
There is an economic issue which has to be discussed with the
monastery.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2.
There is the issue that the monastery has to care both economically
and spiritually for its members who fall ill on the road of life. A
monastery which didn’t wouldn’t be worth joining.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">3.
There is the issue of whether the person entering with a
pre-existing medical condition can reasonably be expected to live a
serious monastic life given the particular stresses of such a life.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">4.
There is the issue of whether the monastery is resilient enough to
accept the person with their medical condition without excessive
distortion of the monastery’s primary goal of seeking
after</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> spiritual</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> perfection.</span></span></div>
<div align="justify" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
would suggest that Sarah Jean discuss the above with her doctor, her
confessor and any monastery she is considering joining. As we said,
we have absolutely no idea what Sarah Jean’s condition is; we are
just trying to give a comprehensive analysis of the issues. We wish
Sarah Jean well.</span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-47552709525331474112014-06-01T20:23:00.000+01:002014-06-01T20:24:07.269+01:00Honour Your Father and Mother<style type="text/css">P.georgia { margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-align: justify; }P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }A.cjk:link { }A.ctl:link { }</style>
<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We have received a very
interesting email from a woman we shall call ‘Martha Simms’. Here
is the email, with some of the details altered:</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">What
exactly does it mean to ‘hono</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">u</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">r
your mother and father?’ I was raised in a Protestant home. At
the age of </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">50</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">,
I converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith. In doing so, I went
against what my parents expected of me. My choice, also went against
the wishes of my husband. Sometimes I still feel a ‘faded guilt’.
Two of these dear ones, even yet, do not support my decision. Where
have I done wrong?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Have I dishonoured my parents? What
about my husband? I have been converted these past 10 years. I wish
that I could get over these nagging thoughts.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Thank you,</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Martha Simms</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are several reasons
why we, Orthodox Monk, are so slow to reply to emails:</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. We are busy.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. The emails ask difficult
questions.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The issue here is the
thought that “I have done wrong” in going against the wishes of
my parents (and husband) in becoming a member of the Orthodox Church.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">This
is a temptation. Before we discuss how to respond to this type of
temptation, f</span></span></span>irst let us look at the objective
situation.</span></span></div>
<div class="georgia" style="margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">Honour
thy father and thy mother: that thy days </span></span></span>may be
long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20,
12, KJV.)</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is one of the ten
commandments. It is one of the pillars of Judaism and Christianity.
Although we do not know any specific reference we would also imagine
that some form of it is important in Islam, and indeed in every other
major religion. That is because it is part of the natural law—the
law put into human nature by God when he created us—for us to
respect our parents, just as it is part of the natural law for
parents to love their children.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The issue of course is what
it means for us to honour our father and mother: what is the scope of
the commandment? Can our parents tell us who to marry? Can they
force us to worship God according to their own beliefs? Can they
tell us what to study in school to prepare for our life? Can they
insist that they live with us? Can they tell us what job to take and
what job not to take? What is legitimate for parents to demand of us
and what is beyond the scope of the commandment?</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is also a similar
issue here concerning one’s husband, since Paul is clear that the
husband is head of the wife.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let us look at how Our Lord
answers this question:</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-style: normal;">Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, </span></span></span>him will
I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father
which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:
I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and
the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes
[shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or
mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not
his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that
findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my
sake shall find it. (Matthew 10, 33 – 39 KJV.)</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is clear that the
commandment to love God and to confess Jesus Christ his Son takes
precedence over the commandment to honour one’s father and mother:
there is a limit to the scope of the commandment to honour one’s
father and mother. The Gospel passage is clear that we must put our
faith in Jesus Christ over honour for our parents—or even for our
husband.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We enter the Orthodox Church
because we believe that it is the truth; that in entering the
Orthodox Church we confess Jesus Christ in fullness. Indeed the Rite
of the Catechumen before Baptism is clear that in entering the
Orthodox Church we are renouncing Satan and confessing the Lordship
of Jesus Christ. A proper conversion to Orthodoxy is therefore a
confession of Jesus Christ and covered by the Gospel passage.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let us now look at some
historical and cultural background.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Honour shown to parents was
very important in the Hebrew tribal society apart from any moral
issue of a direct commandment of God. The interpretation of the
nature of that honour has changed over the centuries in Judaism. One
need only reflect on the interpretation of the commandment among
ultra-Orthodox Jews today in comparison to reformed Jews.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is the same thing in
Christianity. Interpretation of the commandment has always been
affected by the cultural conditions of the time and place where the
family was that is the subject of the commandment. This includes
other aspects of the commandment, whether for example our parents can
tell us what job to take.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now Martha says she comes
out of a Protestant background. We personally think that Martha has
these thoughts because of how she was brought up as a child—her
relations with her parents in infancy. Now Protestantism is very
broad and child-rearing practices within Protestantism today vary
from the very authoritarian to the very permissive. This is further
complicated by the fact that child-rearing practices and the
interpretation of the commandment also vary according to social
class, culture (ethnic group) and type of Protestant group that one
might have belonged to. For although Protestantism is largely a
matter of spiritual individualism, some strands of it have been very
authoritarian.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hence the historical
background for understanding this commandment begins with an
understanding of Hebrew tribal society and continues through the
centuries with the nature of paternal authority in the Israel of
Jesus’ time and continues through the Protestant Reformation to
today. Similarly in traditionally Orthodox countries this
commandment might be understood in different ways depending on class,
culture and historical period.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now depending on how much of
a problem these thoughts are, Martha might simply employ a strategy
of deflecting the thoughts in a way we will explain, or she might
find it necessary to consult with a therapist. However, given her
age we think that she just has to accept that the thoughts are going
to bother her until they get fed up and leave her alone.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is how Martha can
deflect the thoughts. She should write the Gospel passage down on a
piece of paper. She should put it in her pocket. Then when the
thoughts bother her, she should pull the piece of paper out of her
pocket and read it. Preferably out loud but if she is somewhere
where that isn’t possible, then silently. She should repeat
reading the passage until the thoughts get fed up and go. Of course
if Martha is driving on the free-way or piloting an aeroplane at
30,000 feet she’ll just have to ignore the thoughts and get on with
business until she gets to where she’s going. Now this might seem
simple-minded, but it is actually the application of an ancient
Orthodox practice.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<br />
<br /></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-26155833455845750062014-02-17T22:59:00.003+00:002014-02-17T23:00:22.480+00:00Question Time<style type="text/css">PRE.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Hindi",monospace; }P { margin-bottom: 0.08in;
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Someone
has sent us a question. In full the email reads: </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Where ru a monk </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Answer in full: </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here</span></span>
</div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-6820793510011962852013-12-30T19:15:00.000+00:002014-01-07T22:10:55.658+00:00Prelest and Positive Thinking<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Those of our readers who want to know why we’ve been silent may be
pleased to see that we have taken time off from our current time-consuming
project to answer an email we have just received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a number of other emails that are
in the queue but we have been too busy to deal with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hope to get to them in due time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Someone, let us call her ‘Martha’, has written to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We replied to her as follows:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Our
policy is only to answer emails publicly on the blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We remove all information that could be used
to identify you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also edit for
clarity and style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this acceptable to
you?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">To which Martha replied:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Sure,
as long as you keep my identity private!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thank you!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Here is Martha’s email, extensively edited for clarity:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Hi
Orthodox Monk,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">I’m
curious to know why you guys are promoting the ‘positive thinking’ idea that
your neo-elders are teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such as in
the books</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Elder Paisios of the Holy
Mountain</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The Gurus, the Young Man and
Elder</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paisios</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">and
the book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wounded by Love</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">These
teachings are nothing more than ‘New-Age’ and ‘Occult’ terminologies as well as
practices!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have never before been
used by true orthodox elders and none of the holy fathers spoke about such
things nor are they found anywhere in the Holy Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me this indicates that Orthodox
Christianity is being blended in with the Occult, and thus slowly taken us away
from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are we not supposed to trust
God in all matters?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not our own self,
and our positive or negative thoughts, given us through our own man-made
power?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To attract this or that from
energies or within ourselves (a power or energy that we do not possess) yet
Elder Paisios claims that we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
a demonic and completely un-Orthodox teaching!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Are
these new elders in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prelest</i>? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you could shed some light as to why it
is not only being promoted but encouraged for spiritual enlightenment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">And
while we’re on the topic of enlightenment, here is my next question: why and
how do all of Elder Ephraim’s Abbots and Abbesses obtain the gift of
clairvoyance so easily?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t this
supposed to be given (maybe) only to those who have accomplished great ascetic
struggles in extreme humility, and only if God wills?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not every elder obtains all the holy gifts or
even seeks them, yet the Ephraim monastics work in a way opposite to this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the exact same way that the
Charismatic Protestant movement goes about obtaining the gifts of the Holy
Spirit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Anyway
I didn’t mean to upset anyone; I’m only inquiring so as to obtain true answers
and knowledge for myself (I hope in fact that you are a real monk).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Asking
you to please keep my identity private.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Thank
you, and waiting for your response.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Martha</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Let us take the issues one by one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">First we didn’t realize that we, Orthodox Monk, were promoting the
‘positive thinking’ that is found in the books that Martha lists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also we didn’t realize that we were promoting
the ‘neo-elders’ that Martha speaks about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indeed, as near as we can make out we have made a serious effort over
the years not to promote or to denigrate one or another elder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess we weren’t as careful as we thought we
were.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now, let us run through these books to make sure that we’re all on the
same page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, </i>was
written by Hieromonk Christodoulos who at the time he knew Elder Paisios was a
monk at the Monastery of Koutloumousiou, a short walk from Elder Paisios’ cell
or house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We understand that Hieromonk
Christodoulos met with Elder Paisios a number of times and that he took notes
of his conversations as soon as he returned to Koutloumousiou after speaking
with the Elder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our friend George who
knows far more about Mt Athos than we do says that the conversations that
Hieromonk Christodoulos presents ‘ring true’ as presenting the real Elder
Paisios.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ourselves have not read the
next book,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Gurus, the Young Man and Elder</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paisios, </i>and have no comment on it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The third book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wounded by Love,</i>
is the English translation of an early edition of a book called in Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bios kai Logoi.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That book came about as follows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elder Porphyrios permitted two of his
disciples, now nuns, to record a number of conversations with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The transcripts of those conversations became
the book in question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the book is
really just the transcripts of a number of conversations or discourses of Elder
Porphyrios with two of his disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is not a ‘set-piece’ theological work by the Elder.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We will discuss Elder Paisios, Elder Porphyrios and Elder Ephraim
separately.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now the first point to make is that Elder Paisios wrote a number of
books himself, which are to be found in English translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might be useful for Martha to find these
books and read them so as to get direct from the horse’s mouth what Elder
Paisios thought and taught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a
list of those books (all available in English):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Saint Arsenios the Cappadocian</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Elder Hadji-Georgis the Athonite</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Athonite Fathers and Athonite Matters</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Epistles</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">These books are published by the Holy Hesychasterion of St John the
Theologian, Souroti, Greece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is where
Elder Paisios was buried in accordance with his own wishes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">There is also a series of books published by the Holy Hesychasterion
of St John the Theologian that have been constructed after the Elder’s death by
assembling on a thematic basis notes and recordings of sayings by Elder Paisios
collected by the nuns of the Hesychasterion, who are the Elder’s disciples and
formal literary executors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While these
books are certainly of some weight in understanding Elder Paisios’ teaching,
they would rank second to the books actually written and edited by Elder
Paisios while he was alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The volumes
presently published are (all available in English unless otherwise noted):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Spiritual Counsels 1: With Pain and Love for
Contemporary Man</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Spiritual Counsels 2: Spiritual Awakening</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Spiritual Counsels 3: Spiritual Struggle</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Spiritual Counsels 4: Family Life</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Spiritual Counsels 5:
Passions and Virtues </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">(not translated)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In the third rank would be books written by someone who knew Elder
Paisios and decided to write a book about him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain</i>
by Hieromonk Christodoulos, discussed above, would belong to this
category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among such books, the best in
our opinion is the one by Elder Isaac called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Elder Paisios of Mount Athos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Elder
Isaac, since deceased, was a personal disciple of Elder Paisios.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">It should be noted that when we recommend a book, we recommend it in
the original language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have no
opinion one way or another on the quality of a translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A translation is an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">interpretation </i>of the author’s meaning, and in the case of a group
translation, an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">interpretation by a
committee.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now let us begin with Martha’s criticisms, as near as we can make them
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, we were rather
surprised to be taxed with teaching the doctrine of Elder Paisios on positive
and negative thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t think
we had addressed the issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be that as
it may, we understand Elder Paisios’ teaching to be as follows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A monk or nun or layperson would come to
Elder Paisios and express dissatisfaction with their elder, their abbot, their
abbess, their spouse, their children, their parents, their job and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often, we imagine—we weren’t there—these
people would be depressed and would want to ‘vent’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive us, Martha, but your remarks seem
similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now what Elder Paisios would
say—as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we </i>understand it!—to these
people is that they were allowing themselves to be swept up in negative
thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What they should do, Elder
Paisios would say, was concentrate on positive thoughts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Martha thinks this is wrong, New-Age and Occult if we understand her
correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly not to be found
among the elders of old and not to be found in Scripture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The basis of Elder Paisios’ teaching is to be found in a tradition in
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Philokalia </i>that goes back to very
early times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The great systematizer of
this method as it entered into the Orthodox Hesychastic tradition is Evagrius
Ponticus (344 – 399) but the method is also found in Neilus of Ankara (died
430) and Mark the Ascetic (5<sup>th</sup> Century), of whose works it was said,
‘Sell everything and buy Mark.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
method is referenced in Diadochos of Photiki (5<sup>th</sup> Century) and other
writers of the period; the fullest discussion is perhaps to be found in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ladder of Divine Ascent</i> by John of Sinai
(7<sup>th</sup> Century).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an
integral part of the Hesychastic program of Hesychius of the Burning Bush (8<sup>th</sup>
Century).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is referenced by the
Gregory Palamas (14<sup>th</sup> Century).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So the foundation of what Elder Paisios is saying is certainly Orthodox
and certainly taught by some very big names in Orthodox spirituality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In brief what these authors discuss is the genesis of an impassioned
thought in the mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally the cause
of such an impassioned thought is a temptation by a demon, although Evagrius
for example recognizes that people can quite often get on with a tempting
thought without a demon on the basis of their own emotional tendencies to
sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the demons is specialized
for sowing thoughts of sorrow (depression) but there are other demons of envy,
malice, rancour and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
demons would have no work if we didn’t have emotional tendencies to sin that
corresponded to their specialties.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The best treatment of the emotional tendencies to sin and the
evolution of a tempting thought is found in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ladder of Divine Ascent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>John
of Sinai’s treatment is largely based on Evagrius although he produces a much
more refined analysis.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So basically what Elder Paisios was saying to these people is that
they were allowing themselves to engage with tempting thoughts sown by a demon
or by their own emotional tendencies to sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since that was not healthy and interfering with these peoples’ lives,
better for them to make an effort to think positive thoughts instead of the
negative thoughts sown by a demon, their own passions or even on account of
some biochemical imbalance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Since Elder
Paisios on occasion sent people to see a secular psychiatrist he would surely
have recognized the possibility that there might be an organic issue that
needed medical attention.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We ourselves would remark that there are people who always look on the
dark side, always focusing on what can go wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are also people who always look on the
bright side—the personal executioner employed by the late Ibn Saud, King of
Saudi Arabia, was said to be a jovial fellow with nary a depressive bone in his
body—and that is probably preferable to being depressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, to make a serious decision it helps
to be realistic, neither unrealistically depressive nor unrealistically
optimistic.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now this is our interpretation and we see nothing wrong with
counselling people not to succumb to the temptation to think negative
thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now Martha is correct that for
most people the only way for them to resist such negative thoughts is to pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We doubt that Elder Paisios would
disagree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However his point, we think,
is that unless you recognize that you are being foolish in accepting to think
such negative thoughts it’s not even going to occur to you to ask Jesus to save
you from them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now for the rest, we do not know what Martha thinks that Elder Paisios
taught that is so objectionable about inner powers and so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are quite sure, however, that Elder
Paisios was quite Orthodox.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now, as for Elder Porphyrios.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are not aware of a similar teaching about negative thoughts by Elder
Porphyrios, and certainly not in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bios kai
Logoi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>What we recall from that book
is a discussion of the eternal Church, Elder Porphyrios’ reliving of the
Apocalypse to John on Patmos and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course we could be wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
been a while since we read the book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now is Elder Porphyrios teaching New Age and Occultism?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hope not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was just made a saint of the Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical
Patriarch at the beginning of December, less than a month ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it’s not Elder Porphyrios any more, it’s
Saint Porphyrios.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Next, Elder Ephraim of Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Martha’s complaint does not seem to be with Elder Ephraim himself, who
George tells us is highly respected on Mt Athos, as having been a major factor
in the renewal of Mount Athos by the disciples of Elder Joseph the Hesychast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Martha’s complaint seems to be that all of
Ephraim’s Abbots and Abbesses are also clairvoyant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too easy she thinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ourselves have no doubt that Elder Ephraim
is a holy man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ourselves do not doubt
that he is also clairvoyant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we
have no information on his disciples, if they are clairvoyant and if so where
they got it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">statement in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ladder of Divine Ascent</i> by St John of
Sinai, that it is shameful for an elder to pray that a disciple receive a
charism that he himself does not have, says to us that if Elder Ephraim’s
disciples are genuinely clairvoyant it is because Elder Ephraim prayed for them
to receive the charism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as we
said, we have no opinion on the matter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">What Martha could do is ask Elder Ephraim.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Now what about us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orthodox
Monk?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Martha is worried that we might be
a disciple of Elder Ephraim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well,
again, she could always ask Elder Ephraim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For how would she know if we were telling the truth if we said we
were?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or if we said we weren’t?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We said all we have to say on our monastic state and affiliation in a
post called </span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2008/01/who-is-orthodox-monk.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Who
is Orthodox Monk?</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Martha replied with two emails, which she has
also given us permission to discuss publicly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Here they are, again edited extensively for
clarity:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">[1<sup>st</sup> Email:]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks
for posting in reply, but let me correct you, Orthodox Monk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never said or implied that I was worried
about your being affiliated with Elder Ephraim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I only asked you to which monastery you belong (meaning name and
country).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did also ask from curiosity
if you were under Ephraim (which you still have not answered).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please do not confuse my words.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Secondly you made it sound like I was attacking the elders, which
clearly I wasn’t!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you read the books
I mentioned you would clearly see where I got my questions of concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the Ephraimites I am sure you have
heard all the rumours circulating about them, especially the death of Scott
Nevins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now why couldn’t Elder Ephraim
save his life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And have helped him since
he lived there 7 years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, if
Elder Ephraim is not in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prelest</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before you judge anyone on your blog or
accuse them of criticizing, just remember that just because it didn’t happen to
you, it doesn’t make it any less true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thank you for your response but obviously you are with world orthodoxy
(ecumenism) so I expected no less.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">[2<sup>nd</sup> Email:]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also
one more thing: There are many cults and false elders out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing wrong with people doing
their own homework by asking questions to learn and to discern the spirit of
the times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this troubles anyone then
this is an indication that they are trying to mask something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True Orthodox Christian people should be
proud of those who ask questions and want to learn the true meaning of
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They should encourage questions
and not oppose them, and not expect only blind obedience to whoever claims to
be an elder or even Orthodox.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Here’s our answer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Martha, first of all, no one is obliged to
read our blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t like it you
don’t have to read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have written
several hundred thousand words on the blog (enough for a number of books) and
everything is there for anyone who wants to read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our views should be quite clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, we haven’t given you a direct answer
whether we are or are not affiliated with Elder Ephraim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do so one way or another would be to say
more about ourselves than we care to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
that bothers you, then stop reading the blog.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Next, of the three books you mentioned, we have
read two; we haven’t read the <i>Gurus</i> book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was admittedly some time ago that we read
the two books but we don’t remember any questions arising in our mind of the
sort you are posing.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Next, no we are not up to date on ‘the
Ephraimites I am sure you have heard all the rumours circulating about them,
especially the death of Scott Nevins’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By and large we avoid that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular we have not
studied what happened in the case of Scott Nevins and have no intention of
doing so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor do we intend to spend any
time on the possibility that Elder Ephraim is in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prelest</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just not who
we are, Martha.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Next, you write ‘Before you judge anyone on your
blog or accuse them of criticizing, just remember that just because it didn’t
happen to you, it doesn’t make it any less true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thank you for your response but obviously
you are with world orthodoxy (ecumenism) so I expected no less.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not sure what you mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you mean that we are criticizing someone
else or that we are criticizing you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
strongest criticism of you was that you have a tendency to listen to your bad
thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it is you that you mean we
have been criticizing, then ‘because it didn’t happen to you, it doesn’t make
it any less true’ suggests that you have had some bad experience, unless we
completely misunderstand what you are saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you have had a bad experience, then we suggest you speak to a
clergyman face to face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A blog is not
the place to sort out personal bad experiences.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Martha replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We will let her have the last word:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">I did not have nor do I have any intention to read your blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only wrote a simple email on the ‘positive
thinking’ idea, which you took way out of proportion to my intent, in cold
heartless replies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I have not had
any bad experiences and even if I had that would not excuse the fact that the
Ephraimites are in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prelest</i>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, there are many complaints about
them from thousands who have had similar experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can choose to cover up for the
wrongdoings of the Ephraimites but just don’t forget that people are not
stupid!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth always comes out in
the end!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I don’t even believe that
you live in an Orthodox monastery let alone that you are a tonsured monk, just
going by your cold accusatory, assuming replies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am done talking with you! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Martha </span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">later sent us another email:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Dear Orthodox Monk:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.65pt; margin-left: 28.35pt; margin-right: 28.35pt; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">I have realized that I made a terrible mistake with
regard to my ‘positive thinking’ query and about Elder Ephraim being in <i>prelest</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did some more research and I have found out
that I was terribly wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you.</span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span></span></div>
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<![endif]-->Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-64823477978142013612013-09-11T04:29:00.001+01:002013-09-11T04:30:33.073+01:00A Comment on our Post ‘A Charismatic Question by Email’<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="background: transparent;">We
have received a comment on our post <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/charismatic-question-by-email.html">‘A
Charismatic Question by Email’</a>. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="background: transparent;">We
think that it is worth discussing this comment by ‘Commodus Firmus’
in a blog post. We have edited the comment for clarity.</span></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Hi,
the use of the name of Jesus is never in vain and what seems out of
place and incompatible today might be a perfect fit tomorrow. If
anyone wants to use the Jesus Prayer only good will come of it.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">I
grew up in Greece. On the one hand, I was steeped in Orthodoxy and
the Jesus prayer from a very early age (I discovered the prayer when
I was 8-10 and then when I was around 13 I tried it for the first
time).</span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">On
the other hand, however, the institutionalized Orthodox Church of
Greece (as a social structure) was so irrelevant and so unsuccessful
in communicating its message that it was (and for many is) just
repulsive. For years I was just one more ‘nominal Christian’. The
Jesus prayer was the only indication that underneath the rather
repulsive visible institutionalized ‘state religion’ there might
be hiding a ‘pearl of great price’.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Then
I met Protestants—some (nominally) still Greek ‘Orthodox’ but
with evangelical tendencies—and also Pentecostals. In sharp
contrast to the state church, these people looked as if they
practiced what they preached and they taught me to read the Bible
too. I was still trying the Jesus prayer every now and then, never
‘breaking’ its secret yet on every occasion I was left with the
impression that there is a secret in this short repeated prayer. So I
always returned to it. First every 2-3 years, then every 1-2 years,
then even more often, until 30+ years after I discovered the Jesus
Prayer it became a regular part of my life and returned my heart to
the Orthodox Church. I still feel ashamed of the quality of
leadership of the Orthodox Church—but then, am I any better? Yet
every time some (over?)zealous Orthodox—seemingly out of petty
antagonism—speaks ill of other denominations it pains my heart
because I learned good things from them. Wasn’t it the Lord who
said, ‘from their fruit you will know them’? Well, they are not
perfect. It pains my heart too to see some of the doctrinal errors of
the non-Orthodox, yet I see the good fruit as well and close my
mouth.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
bottom line of all this: If some people want to practice the Jesus
prayer, let them practice it—even help them to practice it—be
they atheists, Buddhists or Protestants or whatever. The Name of
Jesus has a power of its own to work unexpected wonders in the hearts
of those praying, no matter who or what they are. Thank God no one
has copyrighted the Jesus Prayer and no one has trademarked it! If
fact I sometimes think that it works a ‘secret operation’ to
bring people back to Orthodoxy. I don’t fear that the Jesus Prayer
is something people can exploit commercially but see it more as a
cornerstone that can be the foundation for the return [to Orthodoxy?
to Jesus?] of those who will put their trust on it or a stumbling
block that will crush those who will try to exploit it.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.21cm; margin-right: 2cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">This
comment is interesting for its clear expression of a person who
although nominally Orthodox is a Protestant in spirit.</span></span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-41751322849835431752013-03-22T20:23:00.000+00:002013-03-22T20:24:15.442+00:00Back Beat 4<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
easiest thing to do is to respond to specific passages of Alice’s
two emails.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thank
you again for your answer. I was very relieved and happy to hear
your wise words and I am very grateful for you for answering my
questions. If you still have time to help me in my journey I would
be most grateful but I understand completely if this subject has
taken too much of your time.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The
problem is not so much our time, although we often delay because we
are preoccupied, but the issue of our not being the appropriate
person to answer some of the questions we receive, and the Internet
not being the appropriate place to solve intensely personal
issues—not to mention that some of the issues raised in this and
other emails are actually quite difficult.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I know
that one of the reasons that I have thoughts that music is somehow
sinful and does not lead to God and maybe even leads people to
idolatry, is that I am not yet a member of the Orthodox Church.
Because of that I have no one to rely on in regard to questions like
this. It would really mean a lot to me if I could find some
spiritual father who could help me with my spiritual life. But this
is a question of me, not of you I suppose.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Spiritual
direction, counselling and fatherhood have to happen face-to-face;
they can’t happen—for a variety of reasons, including the lack of
confidentiality in email—over the Internet. Admittedly it is hard
to find a good Orthodox spiritual father at any time, and especially
in countries that have only a minority Orthodox population. However,
it is impossible to engage in a serious personal discussion by email:
in the very nature of things there is a great deal of filtering that
goes on so that it is very hard to get a sense of who exactly the
stranger is who has approached you by email. This is true not only
of Alice but of all our interlocutors who approach Orthodox Monk.
We, Orthodox Monk, really do not feel that we are getting a full
image of anyone who sends us an email. Perhaps a great saint with
gifts of clairvoyance might be able to handle such a ministry but we
cannot. Hence we discourage our blog readers from expecting us to
guide them. Alice quite rightly and quite sensibly does not expect
that from us but we want to say this clearly for the sake of all of
our respected blog readers.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As you
probably understand, the Internet is full of all sorts of stuff and
sites like <a class="western" href="http://www.orthodox.net/confess/a-list-of-the-passions.html">this
list of the passions by St Peter of Damascus</a>, where
‘flute-playing’ is listed as one of the passions. This does not
make me feel comfortable in the least.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As
we understand it, in pagan times music was used in pagan rituals
which verged on debauchery, apart from the fact that they were devil
worship. Flute-playing was part of that. So when we see
flute-playing in such a list as this we are really encountering an
ancient attitude to pagan ritual. It might be similar today to
consider what a pious Orthodox reaction might be to heavy metal with
satanic lyrics. However, we doubt that playing a Bach partita on the
violin is to be considered in the same light.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The
only thing I’ve understood is that in Orthodox Church the Tradition
and the Holy Canons are not understood in legal terms but more as a
guide to Christian life and ascesis.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It’s
a little more complicated. While Roman Catholicism developed in a
very legalistic way, especially in the work of Thomas Aquinas, and
while Tradition is properly defined in the Orthodox Church as the
presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church, we cannot completely
relativize the canons. However, we can certainly look at what they
were intended to accomplish when they were formulated and consider
whether the same conditions obtain today. We personally think that
in cases where there is not a serious moral issue—say,
abortion—then a case can be made for flexibility in the application
of the canons given different circumstances today. Certainly if
there is a canon of Hippolytus that one should not baptize a music
teacher (we do not know), surely today one would be flexible if
someone approached for baptism who was teaching little kids to play
the violin so they could play Bach.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I hope
I have understood this correctly. I might also answer to this that I
might possibly understand this better as a member of the Church.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It
is true that some things we understand better having entered the
Church.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As for
my questions, if you have time I would like to ask you what the
difference is between the sentiments and the passions. You wrote
about the sentiments, how we Westerners are used to thinking of
Christianity as being only about the sentiments. Are emotions and
passions the same thing?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
think that this is important. In the West, since the day of Thomas
Aquinas especially, one thinks that there is only the intellect and
the emotions. In the Orthodox spiritual tradition there is the
intellect and the emotions and the heart as the spiritual centre of
the person. In the West, if one is not intellectual he is
emotional—in the good or neutral sense. In the Orthodox Church
when one is spiritual he is not necessarily either intellectual or
emotional. This issue crops up in the practice of the Jesus Prayer,
since in the Orthodox Church the Fathers speak of bringing the mind
into the heart there to practice the Jesus Prayer. In terms of
Western received psychology this makes no sense whatsoever and can
only be interpreted as an emotional or sentimental practice of the
Jesus Prayer with a mental concentration on the region of the heart.
But that is not what is meant. What is meant is that the person
enters consciously into the heart as into their spiritual centre, not
their emotional centre. Now the person who brings the mind into the
heart does not cease to have an intellect and emotions, and these are
harnessed to the practice of the Jesus Prayer in the spiritual centre
of the person.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The
connection between the sentiments, or emotions, and the passions is
this. The passions are the emotions directed towards vice, not
virtue. The goal of the ascetic is to purify his emotions so that
his emotions are directed to the virtues not to the vices. For every
emotional drive in a person, there is a virtue and there is a vice.
Fallen man has his emotions directed to the vices; the goal after
baptism is to work to direct our emotions to the virtues. This is
called ‘purifying the passions’.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now
when we say that Western music concentrates on the sentiments or
emotions, what we mean is that Western music does not appeal to the
spiritual part of the person centred in the heart as described
briefly above, but to the emotions. In particular, demonic music
works on the emotions to direct them to the vices, whereas healthier
music works on the emotions to direct them towards virtue, or at
least towards a greater serenity or even an Aristotelian tragic
catharsis. Spiritual music would work more on the spiritual part of
the person, so as to harmonize with raising the mind to God, either
through the services of the Church or through the Jesus Prayer, or
through prayer in a more general sense.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
quite often have the feeling that good music can teach us a small bit
of truth. It
is not the Truth but it can at least maybe lead people closer
to Truth.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As Fr
Seraphim Rose of Platina wrote, music can warm the soul; as St
Barsanuphius of Optina wrote, ‘When you have children, teach them
music. But of course real music—angelic music, not dances and
songs. Music assists the development of spiritual perception. The
soul becomes refined. It begins to understand spiritual music as
well.’ I also think that Theophan the Recluse also said things
similar to this. Of this, however, I am again not fully sure.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While
this should be understood in light of what is said just above, it
should be recognized that in its main outlines 19<sup>th</sup>
Century Russian
religious music was actually Western classical romantic music.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Perhaps
I am not totally wrong in thinking that this means ‘good music’,
which nowadays (maybe not at the time of Fathers?) can also be
instrumental music or songs not specifically composed for liturgical
use in the Church. The exhortation of St Basil to young men
concerning Greek literature comes to mind as it says ‘There is also
good music that David, the Sacred Psalmist, used.’ Tradition also
reports that Pythagoras, by changing the melodic scale of the
flautist that was leading a merry-making, changed the mood of a drunk
crowd so that they became ashamed and went back home. (Quotations
not exact but in my own words since I don't have the source here at
the moment)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This
should make sense in light of what is said above. It doesn’t
surprise us that changing the melodic scale of the flute would change
the mood of the drunken crowd. That is what we would expect.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I’m
the most grateful for you for letting me write these words to you. I
don't remember whether I told you before but I suffer from panic
attacks and from depression and I see a therapist for that condition.
I know that one of the reasons behind all these doubts is that
condition. That and a promise I once made to God, during one of my
first panic attacks, that if this terrible feeling goes away, I will
do for God anything He wants me to do. For this I am at the same
time both afraid (for not doing what He wants from me) and not afraid
(since I trust that He will lead me if I try to find His meaning for
my life).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
are not professionally qualified to address this condition.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I just
wanted to say that so that I can be honest. I am not crazy and I
hope that you will not worry about me; I just hope that maybe someone
like me and with questions like me, will find at least some answers
while reading your lovely blog.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-GB">When I
wrote to you about suffering from panic attacks and depression, if it
somehow is needed or helpful for your answer, I really don’t mind
if you mention it. I just meant that </span><span lang="en-GB">perhaps</span><span lang="en-GB">
th</span><span lang="en-GB">at
</span><span lang="en-GB">is
not what your blog is </span><span lang="en-GB">all</span><span lang="en-GB">
about if I’ve understood right</span><span lang="en-GB">ly</span><span lang="en-GB">.
I had the feeling that </span><span lang="en-GB">your
blog</span><span lang="en-GB">
is more about issues that are of </span><span lang="en-GB">a
more universal</span><span lang="en-GB">
type than personal problems such as my health.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-GB">This
is quite true for the reasons given above.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Still, at the same time I
have the feeling that somehow it is because of pride that I won’t
give up thinking all the time about music and questions about its
dangers in regard to my becoming a member of the Orthodox Church and
in regard to my wish to get a bit closer to God. I sometimes feel
that if even God Himself were to say to me that no one is going to
tell me to stop being a musician and a music teacher, I would not
believe Him.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This
is something that should be discussed face-to-face with the priest.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is actually the feeling
I get when I pray for God to help me [that no one is going to tell me
to stop]. But again, I am not sure about the answers I receive in
prayer and for that reason I seek outside assistance on the matter.
My prayer answer is a feeling I get that somehow my place in the
world is in music. For that I seek to find help from the Church, to
find trust and not to get lost in my own thoughts and feelings.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Alice
quite sensibly does not want to rely on her own discernment, and God
will respect her for that, but as we pointed out the Internet is not
the appropriate venue; a face-to-face meeting with a priest is the
appropriate venue. For that reason we cannot go into as much detail
as a priest might.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
hope that all goes well in your life, Alice. May God bless you.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-51440279312333347282013-03-22T15:46:00.000+00:002013-03-22T15:47:13.346+00:00Back Beat 3<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
have had a bit of a correspondence with Alice the violinist </span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">from
Manhattan</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
our interlocutor and friend in <a class="western" href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.gr/2012/08/we-have-received-not-another-email-but.html">Back
Beat</a> and <a class="western" href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.gr/2012/09/back-beat-2.html">Back
Beat 2</a>. </span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
we have pointed out, Alice is most definitely not Alice and she’s definitely
not from Manhattan. </span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
have delayed replying to her because of the delicacy of the issues of
personal health that she raises in her emails below. However, we
think that we are now in a position to reply to her. Her emails also
follow on from </span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">our</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
previous posts since they again concern issues in converting to the
Orthodox Church. We will again post the emails—edited for grammar,
syntax and style—and then reply in the next post</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Subject:
</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">From the classical musician who
wrote to your blog</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>From:
</b>Alice<alice nomail.com=""></alice></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Date:
</b>10/10/12</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To:
</b>Orthodox Monk <orthodox .monk.blog="" gmail.com=""></orthodox></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dear
Monk,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thank
you again for your answer. I was very relieved and happy to hear
your wise words and I am very grateful for you for answering my
questions. If you still have time to help me in my journey I would
be most grateful but I understand completely if this subject has
taken too much of your time.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I know
that one of the reasons that I have thoughts that music is somehow
sinful and does not lead to God and maybe even leads people to
idolatry, is that I am not yet a member of the Orthodox Church.
Because of that I have no one to rely on in regard to questions like
this. It would really mean a lot to me if I could find some
spiritual father who could help me with my spiritual life. But this
is a question of me, not of you I suppose.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As you
probably understand, the Internet is full of all sorts of stuff and
sites like <a class="western" href="http://www.orthodox.net/confess/a-list-of-the-passions.html">this
list of the passions by St Peter of Damascus</a>, where
‘flute-playing’ is listed as one of the passions. This does not
make me feel comfortable in the least. There are also other sayings
of Saints and Church Fathers against ‘secular’ instrumental
music. As I wrote to you before, I think that this is due to the
fact that in the time of St Peter of Damascus flute-playing was
something quite different from flute-playing in our time. The same
probably goes also for other famous sayings of Church Fathers
condemning instrumental music. But of course I am not sure of this.
I read that some Canon of Hippolytus even forbids the Church to
baptize a music teacher(!) but nowadays I think, as you wrote, that
music is even thought of as something good (or maybe it’s better to
say ‘good music is even thought of as something good ’ where what
is good is a matter of spiritual discernment, just as you wrote). I
think this is because music has changed, not because Tradition has
changed. Tradition has always been the same (‘Music that arouses
passions is bad whereas music that calms and soothes us and perhaps
draws us nearer to God is good’). The only thing I’ve understood
is that in Orthodox Church the Tradition and the Holy Canons are not
understood in legal terms but more as a guide to Christian life and
ascesis. I hope I have understood this correctly. I might also
answer to this that I might possibly understand this better as a
member of the Church. But as I said, I don’t know and maybe this
is something I would want to study more.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As for
my questions, if you have time I would like to ask you what the
difference is between the sentiments and the passions. You wrote
about the sentiments, how we Westerners are used to thinking of
Christianity as being only about the sentiments. Are emotions and
passions the same thing?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I
quite often have the feeling that good music can teach us a small bit
of truth. It
is not the Truth but it can at least maybe lead people closer
to Truth.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As Fr
Seraphim Rose of Platina wrote, music can warm the soul; as St
Barsanuphius of Optina wrote, ‘When you have children, teach them
music. But of course real music—angelic music, not dances and
songs. Music assists the development of spiritual perception. The
soul becomes refined. It begins to understand spiritual music as
well.’ I also think that Theophan the Recluse also said things
similar to this. Of this, however, I am again not fully sure.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Perhaps
I am not totally wrong in thinking that this means ‘good music’,
which nowadays (maybe not at the time of Fathers?) can also be
instrumental music or songs not specifically composed for liturgical
use in the Church. The exhortation of St Basil to young men
concerning Greek literature comes to mind as it says ‘There is also
good music that David, the Sacred Psalmist, used.’ Tradition also
reports that Pythagoras, by changing the melodic scale of the
flautist that was leading a merry-making, changed the mood of a drunk
crowd so that they became ashamed and went back home. (Quotations
not exact but in my own words since I don't have the source here at
the moment)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This
is a very big question in my life and has been for quite a number of
years already and, as I wrote before, I have never got an answer that
fully satisfied me. This is maybe except for your answers and some
quotations I've read from Elder Porphyrios (who said that music is
good but spiritual chanting better, if I understood right) and
Seraphim Rose and some Optina Elders. That the answers don't satisfy
me, I think, can be also due to pride and thinking that I know better
than everyone else.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am
the most grateful for you for letting me write these words to you. I
don't remember whether I told you before but I suffer from panic
attacks and from depression and I see a therapist for that condition.
I know that one of the reasons behind all these doubts is that
condition. That and a promise I once made to God, during one of my
first panic attacks, that if this terrible feeling goes away, I will
do for God anything He wants me to do. For this I am at the same
time both afraid (for not doing what He wants from me) and not afraid
(since I trust that He will lead me if I try to find His meaning for
my life).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As for
the last paragraph, I don't think was absolutely necessary for your
blog and maybe these kind of things would be more suitable for
confession than writing in email since I understand that your blog is
more of common things than questions concerning spiritual health of
people.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I just
wanted to say that so that I can be honest. I am not crazy and I
hope that you will not worry about me; I just hope that maybe someone
like me and with questions like me, will find at least some answers
while reading your lovely blog.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thank
you once more and I honestly hope that I have not been of a trouble
to you.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Best
regards from Manhattan,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Alice</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Subject:
</b>From the classical musician who
wrote to your blog</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>From:
</b>Alice<alice nomail.com=""></alice></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Date: </b>12/10/12</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To: </b>Orthodox Monk
<orthodox .monk.blog="" gmail.com=""></orthodox></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dear Monk,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thank you once more.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yes, I am a violin player
and teacher here in Manhattan. I’ve been playing chamber music all
my life and I’ve been a teacher for a number of years.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-GB">When I
wrote to you about suffering from panic attacks and depression, if it
somehow is needed or helpful for your answer, I really don’t mind
if you mention it. I just meant that </span><span lang="en-GB">perhaps</span><span lang="en-GB">
th</span><span lang="en-GB">at
</span><span lang="en-GB">is
not what your blog is </span><span lang="en-GB">all</span><span lang="en-GB">
about if I’ve understood right</span><span lang="en-GB">ly</span><span lang="en-GB">.
I had the feeling that </span><span lang="en-GB">your
blog</span><span lang="en-GB">
is more about issues that are of </span><span lang="en-GB">a
more universal</span><span lang="en-GB">
type than personal problems such as my health. Of this I am not sure
of as well. Of course it would be of greatest help if you can help
me with that question as well but as I mentioned it most certainly </span><span lang="en-GB">is
not </span><span lang="en-GB">something
that I ask from you.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What I was trying to write
in that rather messy ending of my email was that it may help you to
understand why I am being almost obsessive about this matter of
music. I want to write both that I really respect your answers and
that I don’t keep on asking the same questions again and again
because of distrust or disbelief or, even worse, lack of respect.
No, it is because of my problems.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Still, at the same time I
have the feeling that somehow it is because of pride that I won’t
give up thinking all the time about music and questions about its
dangers in regard to my becoming a member of the Orthodox Church and
in regard to my wish to get a bit closer to God. I sometimes feel
that if even God Himself were to say to me that no one is going to
tell me to stop being a musician and a music teacher, I would not
believe Him. This is actually the feeling I get when I pray for God
to help me [that no one is going to tell me to stop]. But again, I
am not sure about the answers I receive in prayer and for that reason
I seek outside assistance on the matter. My prayer answer is a
feeling I get that somehow my place in the world is in music. For
that I seek to find help from the Church, to find trust and not to
get lost in my own thoughts and feelings.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That I don’t really trust
anyone, I think, is pride and for that I seek help from the Church.
Maybe some day I will find at least some trust again. Maybe that is
what the ascetical struggle is about.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Again I’m sorry for
writing to you such a long and personal message. It is just as I’ve
said that I don’t have any spiritual father to write to and the
monastery is so far away from Manhattan that it would be hard to get
there. That is also because I work as a musician all the time
including weekends and I really do not have much time, which is most
certainly not good. Maybe some day.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am the most thankful to
you,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Alice</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-64267284074003683042013-03-18T11:48:00.001+00:002013-03-18T21:28:39.448+00:00Non-closed Communion 2<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There
are two separate issues in Jonah Wilders</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">’
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">first
email. First is the objective reality of what Jonah describes about
inter-communion in a small Orthodox parish with a number of mixed
marriages. Second is the fact that as Jonah later remarks, it appears
his fear was, for the moment at least, unfounded. Let us dispose of
the second issue first.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There
is a special kind of temptation that sneaks up on recent converts. It
is a temptation that something is happening that is</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">not
according to the rules. That</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">is
not to say that the rules are unimportant; quite the contrary, the
temptation works because the rules are important. In such a case
where a recent convert feels that something might not be happening
according to the rules they</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">should
discuss it with the parish priest, with whom they presumably have a
trust relationship since otherwise why did they join that parish? If
necessary they should also discuss it with older trusted members of
the parish and even with the Bishop. In other words in such a case a</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">person
should establish the objective reality of the situation in such a way
as to send the temptation running through shining the light of
reality on the situation.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now
let us look at the first issue, the objective issue of
inter-communion in an Orthodox setting. We would like our readers to
reread <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2013/03/some-ranting-and-some-questions-2.html">Some
ranting and some questions 2</a> before continuing since we will be
treating this post as a continuation of that one: the underlying
issues are closely related.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
the classical understanding of the Orthodox Church, one becomes
Orthodox by baptism, as discussed in <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2013/03/some-ranting-and-some-questions-2.html">Some
ranting … 2</a>. Of course the Orthodox Church chrismates
immediately after baptism so that the mystery that corresponds to the
laying on of hands by the Apostles for the reception of the Holy
Spirit is performed right after baptism. The Orthodox believer, even
the infant, is a full member of the Orthodox Church at this stage.
The next stage, performed immediately after baptism and chrismation
even for infants, is for the newly received member of the Orthodox
Church to be communicated with the Body and Blood of Christ. It is
the communion in</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
Body and Blood of Christ that</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">perfects
the joining of the newly received member of the Orthodox Church to
Christ. As Christ himself says:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
am </span></span></span>the
living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews
therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us
[his] flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he
that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which
came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are
dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John 6,
51–59, KJV)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
the classical self-understanding of the Orthodox Church, communion is
received after baptism and chrismation. It is never received before.
Moreover, the Apostle Paul writes the following:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">For
I have received of the </span></span></span>Lord
that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same]
night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given
thanks, he brake [it,] and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is
broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner
also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the
new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it,] in
remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink
[this] cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But
let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and
drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s
body. For this cause many [are] weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep. (1 Corinthians 11, 23–30, KJV)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So
on the one hand the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ joins
us to</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Christ
and to the other members of the Orthodox Church; on the other hand it
is extremely dangerous for someone to receive the Body and Blood of
Christ who is not a member of the Orthodox</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Church,
or even a member of the Orthodox Church but unworthy. This is not
merely a matter of ‘obeying the rules’ but clearly a matter of
the danger of ‘eating and drinking damnation’ with the possible
result that the person become ‘weak and sickly’ or even die.
There’s a downside risk to the person doing this.</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">However,
it should be pointed out that confession before each communion is not
a dogmatic requirement. What is a dogmatic requirement is that there
should not be serious unforgiven sin before communion.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now
Jonah describes a situation of a struggling parish in a country where
the Orthodox are in a small minority, and where many of the
parishioners are married to non-Orthodox and where the children of
such marriages might not even be raised Orthodox. It so happens that
Jonah’s</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">country
is very secularized with a very small minority of practising
Christians of any denomination.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now
some very liberal priests and even Bishops of the Orthodox Church are
willing to give communion to non-members of the Orthodox Church. This
is completely separate from the issue we discussed in <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2013/03/some-ranting-and-some-questions-2.html">Some
ranting … 2</a> concerning how non-Orthodox Christians are to be
received into the Orthodox Church. In other words it might be quite
easy to become Orthodox in these circumstances but the person
approaching for Orthodox communion might not want to become Orthodox.
But since they are Christian they are communicated anyway. We have
not studied the reasoning of these priests and Bishops</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but
we suspect that what is involved is an extreme form of the ‘Branch
Theory’. They believe, we think, that the non-Orthodox Christian is
equally Christian with the Orthodox and is fully entitled to receive
Orthodox communion. These people seem to believe that divisions among
Christians are a matter of unimportant ecclesiastical politics which
can be dispensed with in the interests of higher spiritual practice.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Roman Catholic position is a little better thought out. The Roman
Catholic Church permits members of the Roman Catholic Church to
receive Orthodox Communion if a Roman Catholic church and communion
are unavailable (we don’t think that there has to be a serious
situation such as a danger of death). This is consistent with Roman
Catholic ecclesiology. However, the Roman Curia didn’t bother to
get permission from</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
Orthodox Church for this practice before promulgating it, so we have
a situation in majority Orthodox countries where Roman Catholics
approach the Orthodox chalice with a good Roman Catholic conscience
only to be turned away because they are not permitted by the Orthodox
Church to receive communion.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Of
course the Roman Catholic Church reciprocates, happily communicating
Orthodox, something the Orthodox Church considers a serious sin. We
know of a case where a member of the Roman Catholic Church was living
in Saudi Arabia and attending a ‘secret’ Roman Catholic
church—the Saudi authorities knew about it</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">but
turned a blind eye to the presence of a practising Roman Catholic
priest on their soil. However this person later thought of becoming
Orthodox. He told us that he discussed with the local Roman Catholic
priest the idea</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">that
the company that was sponsoring the ‘secret’ Roman Catholic
church—along with the ‘secret’ Protestant church and
pastor—could</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">arrange
for a ‘secret’ Orthodox church and ‘secret’</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Orthodox
priest to complete the set of ‘secret’ Christian churches. The
Roman Catholic priest, who was happily communicating members of the
Greek Orthodox Church, was none too happy with the idea.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Moreover,
in more Protestant ecumenical circles there is a tendency to want to
use inter-communion as a </span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">means</span></i></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">of
ecumenism, as a</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">means</span></i></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">of
establishing closer ecclesiastical relations among Christian
denominations,</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">rather
than to see it as the prize to be attained once the ecumenical
movement reaches its goal of the full union of all Christians.
Moreover, for obscure reasons, the ‘Holy Grail’ of
inter-communion for some of these ecumenists</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">is
inter-communion with the Orthodox. We occasionally hear of episodes
where a non-Orthodox sneaks up to the Orthodox</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">chalice
knowing full well that they are not allowed hoping that the presiding
priest or even Bishop will communicate them anyway so as to avoid an
embarrassing scene. Sometimes they do.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Orthodox Church has never accepted that non-members of the Orthodox
Church can receive communion in the Orthodox Church. There is no
sense that this is an</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">elastic
norm that</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">can
in certain cases be relaxed by economy.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now
clearly the parish situation that Jonah is describing is even more
complicated because of the issue of mixed marriages. However, the
fact remains that the Orthodox Church has never sanctioned the
communion of non-Orthodox.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let
us look at what Jonah writes:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
… If
heterodox are admitted to communion is this something we should just
accept as being in line with God’s will as revealed to the bishop
and priest?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, no.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Or should
this matter be taken up with the priest and bishop and synod if
necessary?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Knowing
something about Jonah’s ecclesiastical situation we would recommend
discussing it with the Bishop when and if there is a serious issue.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Or would it
be better to leave things alone and find another parish which does
not have this ‘custom’?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, yes. If they are set on doing inter-communion, the best
thing is to go elsewhere, although admittedly there may be practical
problems in a setting in which the Orthodox are a small minority.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Is it
spiritually damaging to partake of communion when we suspect that
there may be heterodox partaking of it although we lack certainty?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, no. At the point that it becomes objectively clear that
the practice is happening, then we think that a member of the parish
would have to inquire into what is going on and, if the practice is
systematic and intentional, to go elsewhere. If of course there is
some confusion and a mistake has been made, that is quite different.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In summary,
then, my questions/concerns are:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1a. If we
think communion is being given to heterodox in our parish, is this
permissible by economy and if so do we have a duty to understand what
this economy comprises?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion <span style="font-size: small;">no for inter-communion by economy <span style="font-size: small;">but</span></span> yes<span style="font-size: small;"> f<span style="font-size: small;">or a duty to under<span style="font-size: small;">stand what this economy is all about</span></span></span>. See above.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1b. If
communion for heterodox cannot be given ‘by economy’ should we
raise this with the parish council, priest, bishop in that order?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, yes. See above.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1c. Is this
really none of our business as parishioners and if we are properly
prepared, through confession prayer and fasting, should we receive
the Eucharist with joy and thanks and not concern ourselves with
anything else?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, it is our business. See above.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2. If we
have received communion at the same time as heterodox does this
invalidate the sacrament and/or require us to undertake some form of
penance even though we did so unknowingly?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, no. The mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ can not
be invalidated in this sense. It remains the Body and Blood of
Christ. But see what St Paul says above about receiving unworthily.
If someone who is not Orthodox receives communion without our
knowledge, that has nothing to do with us. But if we know and consent
then there is an issue with our own conscience.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I sincerely
hope that my questions are, and continue to remain, hypothetical. I
apologize in advance if it appears that I am judging others or
jumping to conclusions. It's not a ‘them’ and ‘us’ situation.
Though myself unworthy I am never the less concerned for the
spiritual welfare of all in our parish, Orthodox and heterodox.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
did not have the sense that there was any judgement.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pretty
quiet on your blog...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well,
we’ve managed to wake up.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I can't
find any evidence of inter-communion in my parish so I've stopped
worrying about it.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
were not surprised. It seemed likely to us that this was the
temptation spoken of earlier.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of more
concern is legislation to be introduced about same-sex marriage which
will have an impact on education and further undermine family values.
Trying to raise this in the parish has only been divisive with some
concerned that we’re being ‘obsessive’.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our opinion, this is a serious matter of Orthodox morality. However,
there is another temptation, that of joining with hard-right
Christian Protestants motivated by a spirit of pride and hatred to
engage in unseemly political agitation. As we remarked in <a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.com/2013/03/some-ranting-and-some-questions-2.html">Some
ranting … 2</a>, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and Love;
it is not a spirit of pride, anger and hatred—or even of unseemly
political agitation in the streets.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So not much
I can do about this (Orthodox count for very few votes in relation to
the population of my country) except pray that God will have mercy on
us.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">May
God help you, your parish and your country.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-84157987327740989612013-03-18T07:34:00.000+00:002013-03-18T07:44:36.190+00:00Non-closed Communion 1<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
promised someone whose email we received some time ago to discuss it
on the blog, with our correspondent’s permission of course. It
strikes us that the topic raised in his email forms a natural sequel
to our previous two posts concerning Jennifer Wilders. Our
correspondent</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">has
no connection to Jennifer Wilders but the issues</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">he
raises </span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">are</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
so related to the topics that Jennifer is raising—of the sort that
Jennifer will encounter in her own country if she becomes
Orthodox—that we have made our correspondent Jonah Wilders,
Jennifer’s brother.</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He
isn’t. Jennifer and Jonah have never heard of each other. They live
in different countries. Again, we will present the email in the first
post and then discuss it in the second post.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Subject:
</b>non-closed communion</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>From:
</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">jonah.wilders</span>@nomail.com</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Date:
</b>13/11/12</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To:
</b>orthodox.monk.blog@gmail.com</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dear
Orthodox Monk,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In my
country Orthodox parishes are often quite small. The church I
regularly attend averages about 30 people every Sunday. The general
level of piety varies quite a bit. Some people attend church
regularly, keep a prayer rule, attend confession, keep the fasts and
gives alms when they can; some don’t.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Confession
is not required before communion. Many married couples are in ‘mixed’
marriages where one partner may be Orthodox and the other heterodox.
Children in these marriages may not necessarily be brought up
Orthodox. Hence a significant proportion of our congregation may from
time to time be heterodox. There is quite a bit of support for the
ecumenical movement. I mention all this to put what follows in
context.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It seems
likely that at some point in the future closed communion will be
relaxed, if this has not happened already. By this I mean that
‘special cases’ could be made, not that anyone would be free to
take communion regardless of faith. Now there might be pastoral
reasons why this would occur (via economy). I have only been Orthodox
for two years or so (I’m no expert) but my understanding is that
the Orthodox Church requires all communicants to be members of the
Orthodox church (why convert otherwise?). If heterodox are admitted
to communion is this something we should just accept as being in line
with God’s will as revealed to the bishop and priest? Or should
this matter be taken up with the priest and bishop and synod if
necessary? Or would it be better to leave things alone and find
another parish which does not have this ‘custom’? Is it
spiritually damaging to partake of communion when we suspect that
there may be heterodox partaking of it although we lack certainty?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In summary,
then, my questions/concerns are:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1a. If we
think communion is being given to heterodox in our parish, is this
permissible by economy and if so do we have a duty to understand what
this economy comprises?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1b. If
communion for heterodox cannot be given ‘by economy’ should we
raise this with the parish council, priest, bishop in that order?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1c. Is this
really none of our business as parishioners and if we are properly
prepared, through confession prayer and fasting, should we receive
the Eucharist with joy and thanks and not concern ourselves with
anything else?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2. If we
have received communion at the same time as heterodox does this
invalidate the sacrament and/or require us to undertake some form of
penance even though we did so unknowingly?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I sincerely
hope that my questions are, and continue to remain, hypothetical. I
apologize in advance if it appears that I am judging others or
jumping to conclusions. It's not a ‘them’ and ‘us’ situation.
Though myself unworthy I am never the less concerned for the
spiritual welfare of all in our parish, Orthodox and heterodox.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Many
thanks.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Best Wishes</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jonah</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Subject:
</b>Re: non-closed communion</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>From:
</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">jonah.wilders@nomail.com</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Date:
</b>12/02/13</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To:
</b>Orthodox Monk </span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dear
Orthodox Monk,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Pretty
quiet on your blog...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I can't
find any evidence of inter-communion in my parish so I've stopped
worrying about it. Of more concern is legislation to be introduced
about same-sex marriage which will have an impact on education and
further undermine family values. Trying to raise this in the parish
has only been divisive with some concerned that we’re being
‘obsessive’. So not much I can do about this (Orthodox count for
very few votes in relation to the population of my country) except
pray that God will have mercy on us.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Best Wishes</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span><div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jonah</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-70721400358850081222013-03-17T21:06:00.000+00:002013-03-20T04:04:08.534+00:00Some ranting and some questions 2<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let
us begin with the issue on everyone’s mind: why we say ‘we’
instead of ‘I’. Here’s what the Oxford English Dictionary says
about ‘we, pronoun’ (quotations by the OED giving usage omitted):</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;">…</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>2.</b></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Used
by a single person to denote himself:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>a.</b></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">by
a sovereign or ruler. Often defined by the name or title added.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>b.</b></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">by
a speaker or writer, in order to secure an impersonal style and tone,
or to avoid the obtrusive repetition of ‘I’. (The OED notes about
this usage: ‘Regularly so used in editorials and unsigned articles
in newspapers and other periodicals, where the writer is understood
to be supported in his opinions by the editorial staff
collectively.’)</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
do not suffer from multiple personality disorder. There is only one
of us. Of course we are not a king—unless king of the blog, which
is a far cry from King of some country. Of course we are not </span></span></span>on
the editorial staff of some collective periodical, nor do we speak on
behalf of anyone but ourselves. Now we find Jennifer’s email
charming; and we prefer to say that ‘we’ find her email charming,
speaking as an Orthodox monk, than ‘I’ find her email charming,
speaking as a man who one day might meet Jennifer. For us, the ‘I’
is far too personal, being suitable for a blog in which the author
discusses how he felt when he got up in the morning, what he ate for
breakfast and what he did over the weekend. So it’s ‘we’ on the
blog.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jennifer’s
email is quite apt, pointing out a very serious problem within the
Orthodox Church. But writing a post explaining the problem and the
solution is difficult, very difficult. If it were easy, Jennifer
would already have found a solution: one would be already waiting for
her somewhere.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Let’s
start of with the self-identity of the Church. For the Orthodox
Church, the core statement of belief is the Nicene Creed. It is the
Nicene Creed that a person must ultimately confess in order to become
a catechumen in the Orthodox Church; today the service of the
catechumen is usually done just before the actual baptism so one
might think it is part of the actual service of baptism. It isn’t.
Anciently there could be years between the two services. In the
service of the catechumen the person, facing west, renounces the
Devil and spits on the Devil, and then turning to the east and facing
the icon of Christ formally joins himself to Christ. In infant
baptism this is done on the child’s behalf by the godparent. The
person then recites the Nicene Creed as their profession of faith;
the godparent does so in the case of an infant. Then the priest—saint
or sinner; it doesn’t matter for the efficacy of the prayers—reads
certain prayers over the person. So if Jennifer or Tess or anyone
else wants to become Orthodox, the Nicene Creed is the bottom line on
what they have to believe.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now
the classical belief of the Orthodox Church is that it itself is in
whole and not in part the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church’ confessed in the Nicene Creed. The classical belief of the
Orthodox Church is not that it is a <i>part</i><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">of
the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church’ but that it </span></span><i>is
</i><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church’. Moreover, the
Orthodox Church is largely silent theologically on the status of
professed Christians outside the Orthodox Church.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">This
Orthodox belief is the same belief that the Roman Catholic Church has
about itself. The Roman Catholic Church believes (Vatican II) that
the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church’ </span></span><i>subsists</i><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">in
the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church also believes
that</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">non-Roman
Catholic Christians are joined in some fashion to the Roman Catholic
Church whether they know it or not. The Pope is the ‘Vicar of
Christ’ for all Christians whether they know it or not. This of
course makes for a collision with the Orthodox belief: there can’t
be two ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Churches’.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
Anglican view is that the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church’ subsists in various co-equal branches, among which branches
are the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Anglican
or Episcopal national churches. According to this view (called the
‘Branch Theory’ by its detractors), there is a spiritual unity
among these branches so that the sum of them is the ‘One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church’, even though they co-exist in
visible disunity.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
Calvinist view is that the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church’ is comprised of all believers who have been
‘born again’ through accepting salvation by faith in Jesus
Christ, something given to them by an eternal personal predestination
to salvation. Hence, according to the Calvinist view the ‘One,
Holy, Catholic</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and
Apostolic Church’ picks and chooses among the members of the
various Protestant denominations, selecting those who are born again.
It might also pick and choose among Catholics and Orthodox if they
too</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">have
been ‘born again’ according to Calvinist criteria (not just
baptized—some Calvinists even<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>give <span style="font-size: small;">greater spiri<span style="font-size: small;">tual </span>weight</span> to the ‘born again’
experience over the actual practice of baptism, treating</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">baptism
as mere confirmation of the born-again experience). This would
explain, among those Calvinists that believe in the Rapture (a belief
dating from the 19</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">th</span></sup></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Century
that entails</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">a
two-part Second Coming), why they believe that among all the
Christian denominations some persons</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">will
be raptured up when Christ comes back</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
first time and some won’t: the born-again will be raptured up and
the non-born-again whether baptized or not won’t. It also explains
why the Rapturists</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">are
so sure that they themselves will be</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">raptured
up: they know they have been ‘born again’.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
various beliefs above are matters in what is called ‘ecclesiology’,
the theology of the nature of the Church. It is clear that these
various ecclesiological beliefs are incompatible. What to do? More
conservative Orthodox theologians gravitate to the traditional view
that the Orthodox Church is the ‘One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Church.’ However, there is a tendency among Orthodox theologians
who are more ecumenically minded to gravitate to either the ‘Branch
Theory’ or the Roman Catholic understanding of the nature of the
Church. But of course this is not something that can be stated out
loud. Moreover, it should be understood that the ecumenical movement
is really a Protestant movement in its historical origins, so that it
would tend either to a ‘Branch Theory’ ecclesiology or even to a
Calvinist ecclesiology.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">One
of the issues underlying the problem Jennifer is addressing is that
compared to the Roman Catholic Church, or even the Lutheran Church in
its various forms, Orthodoxy is not as centrally organized. There is
no central authority that imposes a uniformity of opinion either on
theologians or on the various jurisdictions. This results in an
openness to outside influences, usually Western Christian influences
(we are speaking descriptively and historically here). Hence, we find
a multiplicity of theological currents and ecclesiastical practices
within the Orthodox Church.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Now
the point at which the ecclesiological theories</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">sketched
above collide in a practical way</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">is
in</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
reception of Christian converts. Everyone agrees that non-Christians
are to be received by baptism. However, the Nicene Creed professes
‘one baptism for the remission of sins’. So we can be baptized
only once. But what happens when a Roman Catholic wishes to join the
Orthodox Church (or </span></span><i>vice
versa</i><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">),
or an Anglican wishes to join the Orthodox Church, or a Mormon (where
the Mormons have a supplementary book of revelation not accepted by
traditional Christians)? In ancient times, Orthodox Christians
received non-orthodox believers from other Christian groups either by
baptism or by chrismation, or even by confession of faith, the method
used depending on the particular group being received. St Basil the
Great occupied himself with rules on this.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
Roman Catholic Church treats all Christian baptisms (with some
exceptions) as valid baptisms. Indeed, according to the Roman
Catholic Church a non-Christian can baptize a non-Christian in a
valid baptism if intent is there and water is used. In our own
experience, we know of a case where as a prank a non-Christian
contemptuous of Christians</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">baptized
another non-Christian</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">who
wished to become Christian using water from a mud puddle. </span></span><i>Voila</i><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">!
Newly baptized Christian.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Now,
today the more conservative Orthodox prefer to receive converts from
other Christian denominations by Orthodox baptism in accordance with
a strict interpretation of the canons and in accordance with</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
view that the Orthodox Church is the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church’, there being</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">no
divine grace in sacraments outside the ‘One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church’. Less conservative Orthodox prefer to receive
Christian converts to the Orthodox Church by chrismation or</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">even
by confession of faith either because the Church supplies what is
lacking in the original baptism or because the original baptism is
actually valid. The first view supporting chrismation or confession,
that the Church supplies what is lacking, while theologically
arguable at least has the merit of being consistent with the
classical self-identity of the Orthodox Church as the ‘One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church’. The second view supporting
chrismation or confession, that the original baptism is valid,
indicates that the theologian tends either to the ‘Branch Theory’
or to a Roman Catholic understanding of the Church.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">From
the discussion above we can now see the background of</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">disputes
in the Orthodox Church concerning ecumenism. They have to do with
issues of</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">the
Orthodox Church’s self-identity. They also have to do with the
doctrinal and moral liberalism and relativism found among the largely
Protestant ecumenists. In other words, there is an issue both about
how the Orthodox Church defines itself and about how the Orthodox
Church responds to theologically fashionable currents within the
ecumenical movement, most notably homosexuality and related moral
issues, although there are also doctrinal issues concerning whether
for example one actually believes in the Resurrection—some
professed Christians who are ecumenists don’t. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">However,
it should be understand that issues of doctrinal and moral liberalism
arise outside specifically ecumenist settings, so that they are an
issue in some Orthodox jurisdictions even beyond the matter of</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">formal
ecumenism.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">We
can also see that connected with these broader issues is the very
specific issue of how Jennifer is to be received into the Orthodox
Church.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Moreover,
because the Orthodox Church emphasizes tradition over reason, where
tradition is correctly defined (by Vladimir Lossky) as the presence
of the Holy Spirit in the Church, there is a tendency in the Orthodox
Church for heresies or deviations to develop from an overemphasis on
the external forms of tradition, most notable in our view being the
Old-Calendarist schism in the Greek Church (20th Century) and the Old
Believer schism in the Russian Church (17th Century). This would be
different from tendencies to over-emphasize human reason, something
that characterizes the West. Reactions in the West to the
over-emphasis on reason led to the pietist movement in Lutheranism
and also to the various Pentecostalist and fundamentalist sects.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So
not only are there issues that arise from legitimate questions about
how the self-identity of the Orthodox Church is viewed and how issues
of doctrinal and moral liberalism or relativism are viewed but there
are also issues that arise from an excessive adherence to the
external shell of traditional practice in the Orthodox Church.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">To
clear up a small point in Jennifer’s letter before we go on,
Jennifer says that she is considering being baptized again in order
to become Orthodox. She does not state whether her first baptism was
Orthodox but if so she is already Orthodox—unless she has in the
meantime denied Christ or joined another religion—and it is a
matter of being taught the beliefs of the Church and</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">getting
herself sorted out with the mystery of confession of sins. Of course
if Jennifer</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">has
denied Christ or joined another religion, then the canons of the
Church provide that she be re-chrismated. Denial of Christ is a
formal renunciation of Christ; if one has the thought that they might
have done this it should be discussed with a priest empowered to hear
confessions before any weight is assigned to this possibility. If</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">in
fact there has been a formal renunciation of Christ,</span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">it
is better for the ministering priest to explain why re-chrismation is
necessary.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">However,
if Jennifer was baptized originally with a non-Orthodox baptism, then
we are back to the issue of how she is to be received into the
Orthodox Church, and here we pick up the thread of her email.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In
our view the best thing to do for someone joining the Orthodox Church
is to receive a canonical baptism in the Orthodox Church even if they
have previously been baptized as a Christian. By ‘canonical
baptism’ we mean the full service of baptism, including the service of the catechumen, as found in the
priest’s book of prayers. Then the person should concentrate on the
inner spiritual transformation that begins with baptism, as lived
within a healthy canonical parish. By ‘canonical parish’ we mean
a parish whose Bishop is in communion with the various Patriarchs and
Hierarchs of the national churches of the Orthodox Church.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It
is ultimately the conscious contact with the Holy Spirit received in
the heart in Orthodox baptism that forms the Orthodox conscience of
the believer and this Orthodox conscience solves all the problems of
jurisdiction and belief and hatred that Jennifer refers to. In the
particular case of Jennifer’s situation, she might wish to look at
the Russian Church Outside of Russia as a possible entry point into
Orthodoxy—assuming that the parish is in communion with the
Patriarch of Moscow.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Now
let us look at particular issues raised by Jennifer’s email.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
first issue is that Jennifer lives in a country where there is only a
sprinkling of Orthodox parishes. We don’t know details.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Jennifer
remarks on the lack of aggressive missionary work by the Orthodox C<span style="font-size: small;">hurch</span>. Speaking humanly,
not preaching the Gospel is a weakness of the Orthodox Church. The
charge to preach the Gospel ‘to all Creation’ is given by Christ
himself. The Orthodox Church is weak on this, and especially on inner
preaching—to those who are nominally Orthodox but who really do not
believe. However, this preaching whether on the institutional or
individual level is quite different from the proselytization that
Jennifer refers to (hard core knocking on doors to make converts).</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Jennifer
writes:</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
interpreted this (correct me if I’m wrong) as the Orthodox Church
being satisfied with co-existing with other religious movements,
acknowledging that other people have other beliefs, and that—even
though they may not agree that their beliefs lead to salvation the
way the Orthodox Church sees it, they certainly have the capacity to
guide people spiritually into living more fulfilled and righteous
lives.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Here
we enter into the dynamic of Jennifer’s own conversion or not to
Orthodoxy. The norm in Orthodoxy is the teaching of the Fathers of
the Church, a loosely defined group of authors over the centuries who
among themselves define good Orthodox dogma, thus interpreting the
Gospel, which ultimately is itself the criterion of sound belief.
What Jennifer is going to have to do—perhaps for the rest of her
life—is to study how the Fathers of the Church handled this very
issue of non-Orthodox and non-Christian believers who may indeed be
pious in the context of their own belief system and from at least a
human point of view virtuous. On a more practical level it is
something she will have to discuss with the parish priest who
catechizes her. On a more theological level we would recommend </span></span><i>St.
Silouan the Athonite</i><span style="font-variant: normal;">
</span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">by
Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) where both in Archimandrite
Sophrony’s extended introduction and in St. Silouan’s own
writings this issue is touched upon. We think that Jennifer will
appreciate St. Silouan’s attitude.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Jennifer
continues:</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It has come
to my attention that quite a severe schism has been going on for
quite some time between the more conservative parts of the Orthodox
Church and the Ecumenical Movement (as well as that about the
calendars), and one of the largest ‘counter-ecumenical’ movements
is the largest Orthodox parish in my country. I am confused. Is it
not the teaching of the Orthodox Church that love for another should
be extended, whether or not we are of the same opinion, and that
forgiveness should be given whether asked for or not? I understand
why you might not want to admit their teachings to be the way of
salvation, but is there a need to proclaim half the world to be
heretics and blasphemers?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">St
Paul the Apostle remarks to the Corinthians concerning schisms among
them that to a certain extent he can believe it because that way it
can be seen who is authentic. However, he certainly doesn’t
encourage schism. And writing to the Corinthians he says that we
should make love our aim. In practical terms, Jennifer should first
of all only have to do with canonical non-schismatic jurisdictions in
communion with the Patriarchs and Hierarchs of the various national
Orthodox churches. She should have nothing to do with schismatic or
‘fly-by-night’ self-erected ‘Orthodox’ churches, of which
unfortunately there are a number. However, even if a parish is
canonical, Jennifer should be ‘cunning as a snake and innocent as a
dove’, sizing up the parish using the criterion of the Gospel: ‘By
their fruits you shall know them.’ If a parish is characterized by
hatred and anger, it is not acting under the impulsion of the Holy
Spirit and Jennifer should go elsewhere.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Is there
not a fundamental difference here between learning about the ways of
the other and adopting them yourself? Enough strength in one’s own
belief should make it possible to meet others without fear of losing
oneself. I was taken aback when seeing some very harsh comments on
the subject and, not having found my place in the Church yet, I fear
I will discover the whole Church to be like this. Should I make
inquiries here on the political opinions of the priests and of the
Bishop of the parish I hope to enter, to make sure we see
‘eye-to-eye’? I had rather hoped I could avoid such a political
mix into my stumbling attempts at spiritual advancement. (Wow, that
sounded bitter!)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
…</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I believe
good advice is good advice wherever it comes from (now we are
obviously not talking Gospel, but simple humility, aid and comfort of
a purely humanitarian nature). This basic view is, I fear, rather
well established in me by now (I am 33) so how can I see and believe
in the wisdom of priests who seem so full of anger and are so
hell-bent on their way as being the right one that they will not even
talk to some fellow priest who has chosen another path? I mean, these
guys are fellow Christians, granted maybe not of the same kind. But
at least they’re not of some weird cult from New Guinea that wants
to shrink your head. One could think they could find SOMETHING to
talk about over dinner...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The
answer to the preceding should now be clear. While the Orthodox
Church bears witness to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ it
does so under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit
of Truth and Love, and not under the impulsion of other spirits of
anger and hatred.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jennifer
continues:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Problem is:
am I too open-minded? Have I lived too long in a world of multiple
ways of the mind to be welcome and able to stay on the road I want to
follow? Does Orthodoxy imply not only that I choose to believe in the
path of Orthodoxy but also that I must reject those others who for
their own reasons may have chosen another path? Am I on the wrong
path in searching Orthodoxy with this mind-set?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
think that Jennifer is going to have to search for sound teachers to
catechize her. She is going to have to hear the Gospel presented in
its entirety and either accept or reject it. Some of what she now
believes she will have to discard; some she will have to purify; some
she will have to retain. This is a matter of a year or more.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
… The
crux is that I fear I will enter the Orthodox Church retaining the
feeling that my view of the world is ‘better’ and that I need to
convince these people to change, or at least to give them a new
perspective. But I came to get a new perspective myself! In the
secular world I have the
‘I-know-what-the-problem-here-is-and-I-am-going-to-fix-it’
mentality, and I am currently struggling to get out of that business.
Changing that was (is?) one of the steps down the road to change.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">While
no one is going to make a serious change to Jennifer’s character at
the age of 33 without doing her serious psychological damage of a
very nasty kind (cults, brainwashing and all that), still as Jennifer
well realizes we join the Orthodox Church to change ourselves, not to
change the Church. There is a dynamic here between learning humbly
and then later serving God in various ways given our own human
capacity and character.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
… So now
we have arrived at the interesting conclusion that the problem is not
that of Orthodox priests arguing but of me believing I know better.
Ergo, solution will be to grab the first priest I come across and
start listening, without concern for his political background.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Not
at all, unless Jennifer is intent on self-destruction. ‘Cunning as
a snake; innocent as a dove.’ ‘By their fruits you shall know
them.’</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Great!
See—you can even get good advice from a silent computer screen. Now
I don’t even have to bother sending the letter. But I will anyway
(tomorrow) for three, no four, reasons:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3. In
diagnosing myself I may be back to my well-known original sin again.
(The reasoning is circular—will this ever end? Does this mean I
have to doubt every time I think I understand something; otherwise
I’m just full of pride?)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We
are not so convinced that this is pride. Moreover, as Jennifer will
learn when she begins to practise the Jesus Prayer, we are more than
the flow or stream of our intellectual ideation. Part of coming into
contact with the Holy Spirit in the heart through the practice of the
Jesus Prayer is learning to go beyond our thoughts to our heart
(which is not our emotions but our spiritual centre). St Diadochos of
Photiki discusses this progression (click on the Diadochos label in
the right-hand margin).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4. Most
importantly—I am very curious to hear why you refer to yourself in
plural.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We’re
curious why it’s important.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sorry about
the ranting. I will stop now. Do whatever you want with this (as long
as you answer question number 4).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cheers,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jennifer</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thanks.
It’s been a pleasure. Answer with your thoughts. –Orthodox Monk</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-13596278571563586632013-03-17T11:17:00.000+00:002013-03-17T11:18:36.358+00:00Some ranting and some questions 1<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
have received a very charming, interesting and important email. It
is quite long, so we will post it as a separate post and then reply
in the next post. Jennifer Wilders is not the author’s real name.
</span></span>We have edited for style and
format; otherwise the content is Jennifer’s.</span></span>
</div>
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</span></span>
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</div>
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</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Subject: </b>Some
ranting and some questions</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>From: </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Jennifer
Wilders</span> <jennifer .wilders="" nomail.com=""></jennifer></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Date: </b>16/03/13</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>To:
</b>orthodox.monk.blog@gmail.com</span></span></div>
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</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi! I have a
question for you if you think you can answer it. Please feel free to
post any of this and please feel free to correct my English if it is
out of whack. But first a little on my background to serve as an
introduction:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Being born into a
family of mixed Protestant/Orthodox background, none of the sides of
the family in heavy practice and with a strong emphasis on science in
the professions of its members, I have for a long time considered
myself to be non-religious as well as non-anti-religious, yet with
nostalgic memories of Christian celebrations from childhood. When I
started to pursue a more hands-on religious practice as an adult, I
felt drawn to Orthodoxy again mainly because of its sincerity and the
way it tends to take life (and death) seriously (as I understand it,
that is; I am a novice in this), in contrast to the very secular
Protestantism practised in my country. Now I am considering asking
to be baptized (again) if I can find an Orthodox parish to join; they
don’t exactly grow on trees here.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For the last few
years I have read what I can find on my own, and one of the first
things that caught my attention about the Orthodox Church was its
lack of aggressive missionary work. This struck me as rather
sympathetic since I like the idea of a belief system that feels it
has a strong enough message in itself and whose representatives
(unlike the door-knocking Jehovah’s Witnesses and the like)
apparently don’t feel a need to shove the message down my throat
until I actually ask for it. I interpreted this (correct me if I’m
wrong) as the Orthodox Church being satisfied with co-existing with
other religious movements, acknowledging that other people have other
beliefs, and that—even though they may not agree that their beliefs
lead to salvation the way the Orthodox Church sees it, they certainly
have the capacity to guide people spiritually into living more
fulfilled and righteous lives. That is what I thought but now I’m
no longer sure that this is the case.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It has come to my
attention that quite a severe schism has been going on for quite some
time between the more conservative parts of the Orthodox Church and
the Ecumenical Movement (as well as that about the calendars), and
one of the largest ‘counter-ecumenical’ movements is the largest
Orthodox parish in my country. I am confused. Is it not the
teaching of the Orthodox Church that love for another should be
extended, whether or not we are of the same opinion, and that
forgiveness should be given whether asked for or not? I understand
why you might not want to admit their teachings to be the way of
salvation, but is there a need to proclaim half the world to be
heretics and blasphemers? Is there not a fundamental difference here
between learning about the ways of the other and adopting them
yourself? Enough strength in one’s own belief should make it
possible to meet others without fear of losing oneself. I was taken
aback when seeing some very harsh comments on the subject and, not
having found my place in the Church yet, I fear I will discover the
whole Church to be like this. Should I make inquiries here on the
political opinions of the priests and of the Bishop of the parish I
hope to enter, to make sure we see ‘eye-to-eye’? I had rather
hoped I could avoid such a political mix into my stumbling attempts
at spiritual advancement. (Wow, that sounded bitter!)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Having read some of
your posts, I have a feeling you do not belong to either extremist
party, but still, the schism is there in your church and thus it
would be interesting to hear your thoughts on such matters, as I feel
I have to reconcile myself with such issues (or at least understand
them), before I can truly say I believe in one and unified [<i>sic</i>;
is this to be taken as referring to ‘One, Holy Catholic and
Apostolic’?] Church myself.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And how does the
Orthodox Church really view a practising Hindu, a Catholic priest, or
an atheist for that matter? Are they decent but misguided people, the
Devil incarnate or something else? Will someone demand I stop talking
to my fellow non-Orthodox believers?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I guess I don’t
have to add that I feel rather open-minded spiritually. From my own
past experiences I could mention some remarkably insightful guidance
and lessons in maturity from an atheist listening to heavy-metal
music, and the creature who finally made me realize that God may be
there for me too was a dog (no—the four-legged kind), so... You
get my drift: I believe God can choose to teach us in many a strange
way.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I believe good
advice is good advice wherever it comes from (now we are obviously
not talking Gospel, but simple humility, aid and comfort of a purely
humanitarian nature). This basic view is, I fear, rather well
established in me by now (I am 33) so how can I see and believe in
the wisdom of priests who seem so full of anger and are so hell-bent
on their way as being the right one that they will not even talk to
some fellow priest who has chosen another path? I mean, these guys
are fellow Christians, granted maybe not of the same kind. But at
least they’re not of some weird cult from New Guinea that wants to
shrink your head. One could think they could find SOMETHING to talk
about over dinner...</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Problem is: am I too
open-minded? Have I lived too long in a world of multiple ways of the
mind to be welcome and able to stay on the road I want to follow?
Does Orthodoxy imply not only that I choose to believe in the path of
Orthodoxy but also that I must reject those others who for their own
reasons may have chosen another path? Am I on the wrong path in
searching Orthodoxy with this mind-set?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here you might say
something like ‘this fear is a test’ and that I should pursue
this issue till I find the right parish priest, or that I should
maybe realize that priests are mere humans and listen to their
message about God not politics—or something like that. The crux is
that I fear I will enter the Orthodox Church retaining the feeling
that my view of the world is ‘better’ and that I need to convince
these people to change, or at least to give them a new perspective.
But I came to get a new perspective myself! In the secular world I
have the
‘I-know-what-the-problem-here-is-and-I-am-going-to-fix-it’<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>mentality,
and I am currently struggling to get out of that business. Changing
that was (is?) one of the steps down the road to change.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This letter has
become a bit longer than I expected it to be. I was going to end it
with the question a few paragraphs ago (if you listen you can hear
the thought-pauses between the paragraphs), and then ended up
analyzing the matter further as I continued to describe the problem.
So now we have arrived at the interesting conclusion that the problem
is not that of Orthodox priests arguing but of me believing I know
better. Ergo, solution will be to grab the first priest I come
across and start listening, without concern for his political
background. Great! See—you can even get good advice from a silent
computer screen. Now I don’t even have to bother sending the
letter. But I will anyway (tomorrow) for three, no four, reasons:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1. I already wrote
it.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2. Maybe I’m wrong
and you’ll draw a completely different conclusion, because:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3. In diagnosing
myself I may be back to my well-known original sin again. (The
reasoning is circular—will this ever end? Does this mean I have to
doubt every time I think I understand something; otherwise I’m just
full of pride?)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4. Most
importantly—I am very curious to hear why you refer to yourself in
plural.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sorry about the
ranting. I will stop now. Do whatever you want with this (as long as
you answer question number 4).</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Cheers,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jennifer</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-39388113396742689422013-01-07T09:27:00.000+00:002013-01-09T07:21:33.569+00:00Christmas in Moscow & Sochi<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">By way of a Christmas
card, here are some images from the Divine Liturgy of Christmas in
Moscow and Sochi yesterday.</span></span></div>
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</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">First, here is part of
the congregation at the monastery in Sochi where President Putin
worshipped.<span style="font-size: small;"> They are a few metres away from Presi<span style="font-size: small;">dent Putin.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2N3DmmxdMnMjX4aJn3xFLH-herm6HowWHqr-onyK4xhxBf8J9zqyAM_riE4hL3i0RpadkIn1Nl_jXu8ASuuXthx33dwYTjQliStV4O7jBaRsExAsKSifLjZyXhHzrrv7bAr4/s1600/Capture3+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2N3DmmxdMnMjX4aJn3xFLH-herm6HowWHqr-onyK4xhxBf8J9zqyAM_riE4hL3i0RpadkIn1Nl_jXu8ASuuXthx33dwYTjQliStV4O7jBaRsExAsKSifLjZyXhHzrrv7bAr4/s1600/Capture3+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is President Putin:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDyKFZQJYolm_zTqz-YDU20lQpv9OnImQqY-y2uGnDj2X2Xm4r93rAazODXaVe8HpmfVTt3i1Nm30FOOlMTCUDCXvIqN_RaYYtIkZT5OtyNlBNB-7Vsn-0YXd8Lo88HV1GDSm/s1600/Capture5+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqDyKFZQJYolm_zTqz-YDU20lQpv9OnImQqY-y2uGnDj2X2Xm4r93rAazODXaVe8HpmfVTt3i1Nm30FOOlMTCUDCXvIqN_RaYYtIkZT5OtyNlBNB-7Vsn-0YXd8Lo88HV1GDSm/s1600/Capture5+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is a member of the
choir:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqMBBkSixM_EmT428VfJnZqzg8hl8NxZICFuMUM6BJwzqvypawPTDcguUJkmHcdWswGkbbVbHxrY9JHD_CpGfZI8nCKZjdqY49EL_nVGifNe0Xdt53K6H03qSZ8eHa3otzBgL/s1600/Capture6+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwqMBBkSixM_EmT428VfJnZqzg8hl8NxZICFuMUM6BJwzqvypawPTDcguUJkmHcdWswGkbbVbHxrY9JHD_CpGfZI8nCKZjdqY49EL_nVGifNe0Xdt53K6H03qSZ8eHa3otzBgL/s1600/Capture6+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is Prime Minister
Medvedev. He is worshipping at Christ the Saviour Cathedral in
Moscow. He is with his wife. We think the children must be theirs. The group is <span style="font-size: small;">standing in an apse just to the south of the solea (<span style="font-size: small;">i.e. viewing towards the <span style="font-size: small;">Royal Do<span style="font-size: small;">ors, to the right of the congregation).</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFEjbJY3WNonLCHxQw1MMGX2Q_t9EtnLZRrZmQZDz-Wy6llL4o511k3kI4EbziWm2ToEqpWIZEcxxG4f5NnvhpakWVpcUgZq0ExDc5hD7zni44i9713JSoefhgftBDqmCsBCK/s1600/Capture9+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFEjbJY3WNonLCHxQw1MMGX2Q_t9EtnLZRrZmQZDz-Wy6llL4o511k3kI4EbziWm2ToEqpWIZEcxxG4f5NnvhpakWVpcUgZq0ExDc5hD7zni44i9713JSoefhgftBDqmCsBCK/s1600/Capture9+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is a member of the
congregation at Christ the Saviour. This was taken after the communion service.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WExEdEPTCzA7jqoS_n_hxRpL6BxqVoY0Wugw5KIMBG4ottGs0mAzVj61uAnSIN7zq3NYAWu_leaTC1uBjRlNo26xOKYogKJIqLAbG4PE7Oj-wWT_jLCVgdzchwFFVXPYs2G3/s1600/CaptureV+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_WExEdEPTCzA7jqoS_n_hxRpL6BxqVoY0Wugw5KIMBG4ottGs0mAzVj61uAnSIN7zq3NYAWu_leaTC1uBjRlNo26xOKYogKJIqLAbG4PE7Oj-wWT_jLCVgdzchwFFVXPYs2G3/s1600/CaptureV+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The following pictures
were taken at Christ the Saviour before the communion service:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This congregant is
reciting the ‘Our Father’ with the rest of the congregation:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This picture was taken at
about the same time in the service:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is Patriarch
Kyrillos just before taking communion. Notice the priest in white vestments at the side </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">of the altar<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">to the
viewer’s left. He is holding a paten with a piece of
consecrated bread that has just been <span style="font-size: small;">handed </span>to him by the Patriarch as part of his
ordination to the priesthood </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">during the service</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">. The cleric standing next to the p<span style="font-size: small;">riest is the Archdeacon.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here is another
congregant:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Merry Christmas to all
our readers.</span></span></div>
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</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Orthodox Monk</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">(These photos were also
posted as an update to ‘Open Letter to Josh Whedon’.<span style="font-size: small;">)</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-28019304017282278562012-11-20T12:27:00.000+00:002012-12-06T02:42:16.501+00:00Future Monk? 4
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">This
is a very difficult post. We haven’t been very happy with writing
it. But here it is. It begins with a more theological discussion of
the issues raised by Simon in his first email, based on quotations
from that email. These are indented. Then we discuss the more general
issue of Simon’s personal condition and his suitability for the
monastic state.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
way the Orthodox Church has been administering tonsure the last few
centuries bothers me.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is a rather presumptuous beginning. So you’re bothered by the
practice of the Church for the last few centuries. Well, why start
small? There are many, many very holy saints even today who didn’t
tamper with the practice of the Church. There have been monastic
reformers in the history of the Church, including the Church of
Russia. However, a true monastic reformer is called to that task by
God; it is not something he arrogates to himself. Moreover, he must
be illuminated by God to be able to proceed with his reform (see
below where we talk about Tradition in the Church). One of the
mysteries of the will of God is why he calls some people to tasks
such as the reform of the Church and not others. This is not
something we call ourselves to.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
one thing, tonsure is seen as a second baptism. But if you allow
rasophores to leave—that is, to become unbaptized—isn't that
sacrilege?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
notion of the monastic tonsure as a second baptism has a long
history. It appears even in ancient Egyptian monasticism (i.e.
Christian monasticism of the first centuries). It is found even in
the medieval Roman Catholic Church, where two post-baptism events
were considered to provide the complete forgiveness of sins: the
monastic tonsure and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Indeed, one of the
reasons for the medieval military monastic orders in the Roman
Catholic Church was the need to protect Roman Catholic pilgrims on
their way to Jerusalem, and it seems they were going for precisely
this reason.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is only one tonsure which provides the full forgiveness of sins; this
is the tonsure to the Great Schema. An analogy can be drawn with the
priesthood. There are a number of minor orders; there are three major
orders: the deacon, the priest and the bishop. Only the bishop has
the fullness of the priesthood; only he can do all the functions of
the priest, such as ordination. Despite that, the deacon and the
priest participate in the priesthood that the bishop has in fullness
and are allowed by the Church to perform certain priestly functions.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is
similar with regard to the various degrees of monastic tonsure. The
fullness of the monastic tonsure is the Great Schema and only that
provides the complete forgiveness of sins and the complete
ontological transformation of monasticism. However, despite that, the
prayers of the rasophore (and even the various prayers sometimes used
in the novitiate) and the prayers of the stavrophore (Small Schema)
provide grace.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In any
event, there is no such thing as becoming unbaptized. What is implied
in the notion that the tonsure is a second baptism is the forgiveness
of sins. This is not the same forgiveness of sins as in real baptism:
if someone has committed a sin which is an impediment to the
priesthood before baptism, after baptism he can still be ordained to
the priesthood; but if he has committed such a sin after baptism but
before tonsure then even after his tonsure to the Great Schema he
cannot be ordained to the priesthood.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moreover,
in the case of baptism, people never become unbaptized: people can
renounce Christ and convert to another religion, or even just follow
no religion, but they remain baptized. Such people would never be
received back into the Church by a second baptism; the Church
provides for a different handling of the matter. So what happened to
their sins? Their pre-baptismal sins were forgiven in baptism; what
they have to deal with is the new sins of denial of Christ and so on.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Similarly
if people were to leave the monastic state it is not as if the old
sins come back so that they become unbaptized from their ‘second
baptism’; rather they have to deal with the new sin of breaking
their vows.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There's
the argument that technically they haven't made any vows, but that
implies that stavrophore tonsure is only a legal contract with God.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
logic of this escapes us.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://orthodoxmonk.blogspot.gr/2011/12/is-rasophore-monk-or-novice.html">As
we have written elsewhere</a>, there is a difference of opinion in
the Church about the status of the rasophore—whether the rasophore
is in fact a novice or in fact a monk. If the rasophore is a novice,
he is not a monk and does not participate in any fundamental way in
the Great Schema as indicated just above. If he is a monk, then he
participates in some way in the Great Schema and cannot be laicized;
in this view the vows are treated as implicit since the postulant
understands that he is committing himself to a life of celibacy.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Church of Greece takes the view that the rasophore is a novice
whereas the considered opinion of Abbots on Mt Athos and, we believe,
the Church of Serbia is that the rasophore is a monk and bound. The
Church of Russia (Moscow Patriarchate) distinguishes between the
rasophore who is a habit-wearing novice and who can return to the
world, and the rasophore who is a monk and who cannot return to the
world. In this case it would be clear before the candidate put on the
habit <i>(rasa)</i> just what was being done, and the liturgical
prayers, if any, would be different.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
don’t understand the notion used here of a legal contract with God.
The vows are vows: they are promises to God and have to be kept. As
we pointed out, the Roman Catholic Church gets around the notion of
the unbreakability of monastic vows to God by treating, in at least
some circumstances, the vows as given to the community and not to God
(if the vow was given to the community then the community can
dispense the vow).</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
vow is not in its nature a legal contract; it is a promise to the
Divinity. However, it should be pointed out that in the Rule of
Benedict the monastic tonsure is treated as a legal contract and the
contract is duly signed by the postulant and placed on the altar.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By the
same logic, you could encourage married couples to divorce because
they don't take vows.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is arrant nonsense. Married couples cannot divorce not because of
vows, even implicit, but because divorce is forbidden by Jesus Christ
himself.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yet
like the rasophore, the spouse has taken implicit and silent vows</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is nonsense. There is a rule that the Church believes what it prays.
If there were vows involved in marriage in the Orthodox Church they
would be explicitly pronounced in the marriage service. They are not.
Admittedly this would argue against the rasophore being a monk and
not a novice but this is something we don’t want to take a position
on; we are merely trying to lay out the status of the rasophore in
current thinking in the Church.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">(I
recognize that the Church allows divorce, but that is only in the
case of some kinds of unfaithfulness. God is never unfaithful to us,
so a monk should not divorce his God.)</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is also nonsense. In divorce, the Church treats the marriage as not
having occurred in reality. Church divorce is more in the nature of
an annulment if we understand correctly. However, we are not experts
in canon law, and certainly not experts in the theology and canon law
of marriage, to be able to discuss this with certainty.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
issue with the monk is the absolute nature of a vow given to God. If
I vow to give a sheep to God, even as a layperson and not expecting
anything in return from God, I have to fulfil my vow under penalty of
serious sin. It is not because God is small-minded but because we
shouldn’t vow anything to God that we don’t intend to carry out.
God is not mocked.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another
problem is that there are multiple tonsure ceremonies. If the
rasophore was second baptism, then why have stavrophore tonsure?</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
stavrophore or Small Schema came into existence in the 8<sup>th</sup>
to 9<sup>th</sup> Centuries in the Iconoclast controversy when monks
were on the run from the authorities because they supported the
veneration of icons. The vows of the Great Schema (especially the vow
of renunciation of the world) were considered too onerous for monks
in that condition so a somewhat milder form of the tonsure to the
Great Schema was invented which we now know as the stavrophore or
Small Schema. However, the Great Schema is the fullness of the
monastic tonsure and the criterion by which it is measured.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
nature of the argument posed by Simon here can be seen from
considering the argument that there shouldn’t be multiple
ordinations, since a deacon is a priest and a priest is a priest and
a bishop is a priest, so how can there be multiple priesthoods?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
stavrophore tonsure is second baptism, then was the rasophore tonsure
meaningless?</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Neither
the rasophore nor the stavrophore (Small Schema) participate in the
monastic tonsure in fullness. By analogy, the deacon and the priest
participate to a degree in the priesthood of the bishop but they are
both lacking various aspects of the fullness of the priesthood that
the bishop has.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Often
one takes a new name at each ceremony. Sometimes one will take a new
name upon becoming a novice, and sometimes one will <i>not</i> take a
name upon becoming a rasophore. Doesn't this make the act of taking a
new name into a formality or obligatory convention?</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Taking
a new name indicates a change in state and implies a commitment on
both sides that the person will continue in the monastic state. The
change of name can create problems if a novice with a new name later
returns to the world. If he gets married, under what name? For this
reason it is best if the name is changed only at the time that a
monastic tonsure is done beyond the novitiate. This means that if you
consider the rasophore to be a novice you shouldn’t change the name
but if on both sides you consider the rasophore to be a monk then you
can change the name. It is not obligatory to change the name at the
monastic tonsure but it is understood that if someone is tonsured to
the monastic state with the same name as before then they have made
their old name their new name. This happens.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then
there's how people view the schema. It seems as if it's a medal or an
award.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is unfortunately the case in the Russian jurisdictions. It was the
case also in the Greek jurisdictions until the reform introduced by
Nikodemos the Hagiorite around 1800.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However,
Russian liturgical practice often reflects more ancient Greek
practice. The Russians are liturgically very conservative and much
more loathe to change their liturgical typikon than the Greeks. But
the Russians took their liturgical typikon from the Greeks when
Russia was Christianized (ignoring here the reforms of Patriarch
Nikon in the 16<sup>th</sup> Century).</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We do
not know the origin of the Russian practice of having a Bishop
tonsure the monk to the Great Schema, whether this is a Russian
innovation or something that they took from the Greeks which the
Greeks subsequently changed. The Greeks of course have a priest who
is also a monk of the Great Schema tonsure to the Great Schema. In
Greece it would be considered unseemly for a priest who was not a
monk of the Great Schema to tonsure to the Great Schema. Of course, a
bishop has the fullness of the priesthood and can tonsure to the
Great Schema whether or not he is a monk of the Great Schema.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
also do not know whether the actual service of the Russian Great
Schema differs in any significant way from the Greek Great Schema
service.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is
also noteworthy that a Russian Great Schema monk is barred from
ordination to bishop—since he has renounced the world—whereas
current Greek practice is to allow and even to encourage this. It is
historically very rare for a Great Schema monk to be ordained to
bishop in Russia.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Russian attitude is that the Great Schema monk is the perfect monk
and should be living a life of prayer in retirement preparing for
death whereas the Small Schema monk is the more active monk.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Silouan
the Athonite was a monk of the Great Schema but Seraphim of Sarov was
only a monk of the Small Schema because, he thought, he was not
worthy of the Great Schema.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Greek attitude since the reforms of Nikodemos around 1800 is that the
Great Schema is the normal monastic state; there is no provision for
the Russian ‘super-monk of the Great Schema’. But as we said we
do not know the history of the Russian practice. However current
Greek practice on Mt Athos is to avoid tonsure directly to the Great
Schema (see below for a discussion why). Instead there is an
intermediate stage for a period of years.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is a book which provides a historical discussion of the evolution of
the monastic tonsure in the Orthodox Church and a Great Schema
tonsure service from about 1000 AD in the original Greek. The service
is very interesting and significantly different in many respects from
the service found in the Greek Euchologion today. Unfortunately apart
from the texts of the Greek services the book is in Latin since it is
an older Roman PhD dissertation.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
book is:</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Wawryk,
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Initiatio
Monastica in Liturgia Byzantina</i></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Orientalia
Christiana Analecta 180, 1968, Pontifical Institute of Oriental
Studies, Rome.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
continue:</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Are
not all clergy dead to the world?</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well,
let’s hope they’re dead to sin but some of them are married.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Are
not all rasophores committed to virginity?</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Depends
on how you understand the rasophore and virginity. If you mean
life-long virginity, then the Church of Greece would disagree since
it will allow rasophores who have left their monastery to be married
in Church. The Abbots of Mt Athos disagree with the Church of Greece
on this.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
should also be pointed out that virginity is not a requirement of the
tonsure to the monastic state in the Orthodox Church. Indeed,
previous sins of the flesh are not an impediment to the monastic
tonsure. However, all monastics commit themselves to a life of
chastity and celibacy and in the fullness of the monastic tonsure
this chastity and celibacy is vowed with explicit vows.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Doesn't
the word ‘<i>monachos’</i> mean ‘solitary’?</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the
early days, the schema was given upon first tonsure—there were no
multiple tonsure ceremonies.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
very early history of monasticism is not that clear on this point.
It’s not even clear if in the beginning there was a formal tonsure
service and if so just what it contained.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wawryk’s
book mentioned above is a history of the tonsure in the Orthodox
Church but it is written in Latin which makes consulting it
difficult.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of
the problems of doing research into such a field is that you need
primary documents to give you data about the target period. These
documents are not always available. One work which attempts to remedy
this is a collection of all the Byzantine monastic <i>typika</i> in
English translation. Simon could well study this very large
multi-volume work to learn more about the historical development of
Orthodox monasticism—although the book concerns itself with
Byzantine monasticism and not with Russian monasticism. The book is:</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thomas
& Hero eds, <i>Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents, </i>1998,
Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
book can, we believe, be found on the Internet.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
even see this more recently in St. Bogolep the child schemamonk.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
exception is not the norm.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In <i>On</i>
<i>Holy Virginity</i>, St. Augustine defines two categories: the
married man or woman, and the committed virgin.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">This
is the basic division of the Gospel. However, Augustine is not
normative for Orthodox monasticism. He is not even normative for
Orthodox theology in general. In the matter of monasticism, Augustine
had no experience of monasticism before becoming Bishop of Hippo and
his monastic rule is</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">intensely
personal, having no connection to Egyptian practice or to the rules
that were written by monks who had been in Egypt before they arrived
in France. John Cassian comes to mind, but there are also a number of
rules written about the same time in Southern France that reflect a
more Egyptian orientation (see</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Les
</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="fr-FR"><i>règles</i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="fr-FR"><i>des
saints pères,</i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sources
chr</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>é</i></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>tiennes
</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">297
& 298; see also </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>La
</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span lang="fr-FR"><i>règle</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>du
</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="fr-FR"><i>maître</i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Sources
chrétiennes </i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">105,
106 & 107 and </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>La
r</i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="fr-FR"><i>ègle
de saint Benoît,</i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="fr-FR"><i>Sources
chrétiennes </i></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="fr-FR"><span style="font-style: normal;">182
& 183</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">).</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He
does not talk about those considering committed virginity.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just
because Augustine doesn’t discuss the novitiate as a state of life
doesn’t mean that he didn’t recognize that such trial periods in
the monastery existed. But frankly this is not something we have
studied.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However,
while we do not recall the exact history of the novitiate in the
Orthodox Church, we are sure it came to be institutionalized very
early. The novitiate is prescribed in the <i>Long Rules </i>of Basil
the Great (died 379) and Basil is far more normative for Orthodox
monasticism than Augustine. Moreover, the Emperor Justinian
legislated in 535 that the novitiate should last 3 years. While one
might object that this was secular legislation which should not be
binding on the Orthodox Church, we are sure that the Emperor was
merely codifying existing good practice. We are certain he did not
invent the novitiate.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
part, the monastic novitiate is a scripturally grounded test of the
postulant’s ability to make a life-long commitment to chastity and
celibacy (‘Let him receive this who can...’). While grace
certainly plays a role in the monastic’s ability to lead a life of
chastity, the particular psychological and physical character of the
postulant whether male or female is also very important, and
this—together with the free will of the postulant—is what is
being tested. That is, because the postulant is a man or woman with
free will and who has a certain psychological character and physical
constitution, one cannot simply look inside them to judge what will
happen over the course of their life; it would require a prophetic
revelation. But even prophetic revelation is subject to the free will
of the person being prophesied about, as we learn from Scripture.
Hence, the person is tested before being tonsured because we want to
see what they will do in practice over a period of time.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moreover,
it should be understood that there are other aspects of the monastic
vocation besides life-long celibacy, notably obedience, stability and
the ability to get along with the other members of the monastic
community, that are being tested in the novitiate. In regard to
interpersonal relations, it should be noted that the vow of obedience
is not just to the Superior but to the Superior and all the members
of the brotherhood.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For
him, it was almost an instant decision before baptism.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
doubt this; it’s not even a particularly Gospel teaching. The
Gospel teaches us to count the cost. Consider the parable of the king
going out to battle against the king with more troops and the parable
of the man who will build a tower who sits down to calculate what it
will cost.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And in
his Rule, he [Augustine] does not mention the novitiate. All this was
less than 100 years after St. Anthony the Great and over 100 years
before St. Benedict of Nursia.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
Father, even Augustine, is not normative for the theology of the
Orthodox Church. For Orthodox monasticism, Anthony and Benedict of
Nursia would carry far more weight than Augustine. Benedict does
discuss how to receive postulants.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Basil
the Great died about 20 years before Augustine wrote his rule. Basil
founded his monastery for which he wrote his rule about 45 years
before Augustine wrote his rule. And as we have said, Basil
prescribes a novitiate.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
would be impossible to maintain a practice of tonsure without the
novitiate in the Church today.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moreover
tonsure directly to the Great Schema is extremely rare even after the
novitiate. Exceptions have been known, notably at Optina in the 19<sup>th</sup>
Century and even on Mt Athos today, but these are indeed exceptions
and rather dangerous because of free will.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is something similar in ordinations to the priesthood. The Church
forbids ordination directly to bishop although there have been
occasional exceptions. The Church wants a gradual series of
ordinations. The reason is that the grace of the various priestly
ordinations is heavy and the person has to get used to the grace in a
lower order and learn to live with it and handle it before moving on
to the next heavy dose of grace in the higher order. There are also
issues of pride and ego inflation in receiving too much grace too
soon.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is
similar with the various tonsures to the Great Schema. It is the rare
person who can be tonsured to the Great Schema cold without spiritual
damage. Sometimes such a tonsure is done on the death bed (in part
for the complete forgiveness of sins) but it is well known that if
you do this the person might not die and you have to live with them
afterwards as monks of the Great Schema.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Orthodoxy
is not a system; it is a teaching.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">This
is nonsense. The Orthodox Church, dogmatically defined, is the Church
founded by Jesus Christ. The norm of the Orthodox Church is defined
as Tradition. The most relevant remark is that of Lossky, who defined
Tradition as the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Hence
what Orthodoxy is, is Tradition, defined as the presence of the Holy
Spirit. This distinguishes Orthodoxy from the western rationalism of
the Catholic Church. (Protestants oscillate between rationalism and
emotionalism.) What Orthodoxy is, the Holy Spirit teaches us after
Baptism, spiritually in our soul. However, the formal teaching of the
Church is defined by the consensus of the Fathers of the Church, who
have been especially illuminated by the Holy Spirit. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">(We
ignore here the matter of dogmatic decisions of Ecumenical Synods.)</span></span>
</span>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
system of Orthodoxy is a reflection of that teaching, but many people
seem to think the system at this current time is the only correct and
perfect way to do it.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well
that’s preferable to people who think that they are ready to change
the last few centuries of Orthodox practice right after entering the
Orthodox Church.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
is a soft manifestation of Roman development of doctrine</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">No.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rather,
perhaps sometimes the system of Orthodoxy becomes skewed (although
not too much), and it is our job to preserve its integrity.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fix
yourself first. Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) in his book on Silouan the
Athonite discusses the development of a dogmatic consciousness as one
stage of the spiritual growth of the person. What this means is that
as the person grows spiritually, at some point the Holy Spirit
illuminates them so that they have an inner sense or criterion of
theology. Of course this is a prerequisite for a Father of the Church
but in the case of a Father there is much more involved, sometimes
including very deep training in secular philosophy and philology
(Gregory the Theologian, Basil the Great, Gregory Palamas).</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My
point is not that the schema or novitiate are wrong. Rather, my point
is that it seems that the Orthodox Church has turned monastic tonsure
from an ontological change into a legal contract in the same way that
the West has done to marriage and pretty much everything else.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This
seems nonsense. While it is possible that you have landed in a rather
formalist jurisdiction, there is much much more to the monastic
tonsure in the Orthodox Church, even today, than a legal contract.
There is the grace of the Holy Spirit.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Am I
alone in this opinion? I'm fairly new in Orthodoxy, but I can't
imagine that I'm the only one who's noticed this. Could you point me
to some further resources?</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Simon
Jaguar, future monk</span></span></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
second issue that strikes us is Mr Jaguar’s attitude. Anyone
reading over the correspondence will, we think, be struck by Simon’s
inordinate anger. Now it doesn’t bother us that Mr Jaguar is angry
at Orthodox Monk; we are an anonymous blogger and if worst comes to
worst we can block Simon’s email address in our spam blocker and be
done with him. If that doesn’t work we can turn off our computer.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However,
we think that Simon’s anger isn’t a one-off directed at Orthodox
Monk. In fact we think it is quite the opposite: we think that this
is how Simon is in general with the people around him. His behaviour
strikes us as consistent with his being a disturbed high-school
student; if Simon is much older than high-school student age, then so
much the worse: something is definitely wrong.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One
issue we wonder about is how with this sort of anger Simon can go to
communion. Not only is such anger monastically depraved but it isn’t
even acceptable in the Gospel for a lay person. Now we are not saying
this to bash Simon but to lay things out in clarity for Simon and for
our other readers. Simon should bear in mind that we wanted to avoid
dealing with his email, giving him only a summary opinion and asking
him to leave us alone. He insisted, however, and we have given our
opinion worthless as it is.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To our
mind one of the major issues with this anger is its origin. Simon
mentions that he was a member of a fundamentalist Protestant church
and we, Orthodox Monk, have seen such anger among fundamentalist
Protestants: the street preacher who hates the people to whom he is
preaching is an example. This is a Protestantism that is powered by a
spirit of anger.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is
possible in our view that Simon was immersed in such a Protestantism
and then converted to Orthodoxy. We wonder, however, if this is
indeed the case, why Simon retained this spirit. How was he received
into the Orthodox Church? As we learn from Diadochos of Photiki in
the <i>Gnostic Chapters,</i> Orthodox baptism drives all the demons
out of the inner spirit <i>(nous) </i>of man and replaces them with
the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of meekness and
love. Was Simon received into Orthodoxy by baptism? If not, he should
consult either with the monks on Mt Athos or with a jurisdiction that
receives by baptism.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If
Simon was received by baptism, did he make a sincere and humble
confession of all his sins at the time of his baptism? Baptism only
works if such a full confession is made; if sins are hidden then the
baptism doesn’t work, presumably until the hidden sins are
confessed.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But if
Simon has made such a clear confession and that isn’t the problem,
is it sin after baptism that has led to this condition? That is
possible since we can certainly sin after baptism. In this case there
is a need for repentance and confession—and reconciliation to the
people around him by Simon (he can leave us out as having forgiven
him).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is it
something biochemical? This is always possible but we are not
psychiatrists to give such a diagnosis, and certainly not over the
Internet.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is it
something psychological, having to do with the circumstances of
Simon’s early childhood? We only know what’s in Simon’s emails
and we have no idea.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However,
what is clear is that Simon is going to have to do something about
this anger. Not only is such anger a serious impediment to a monastic
vocation until it is overcome both spiritually, morally and
psychologically, but it is also against the Gospel. In such cases,
the priest, we think, would want to see evidence of a serious—and
we mean serious—effort to overcome this habitual anger before
allowing communion. But we are not Simon’s priest; he should be
discussing this blog post with his confessor in a very serious way.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
is another aspect of Simon’s emails that we wish to address.
Although Simon is a recent convert to Orthodoxy he wishes to purify
the last few centuries of Orthodox practice. He signs his email
‘future monk’. He seems to be implying that he has found a
precedent in Augustine that he can become a monk directly without
going through a novitiate. Moreover, he insists that we give reasoned
replies to his arguments.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">These
positions speak of great pride. First of all, as John of Sinai
remarks somewhere in the <i>Ladder of Divine Ascent,</i> anyone who
insists on their opinion is sick with the Devil’s disease. That of
course is pride. Indeed, apart from any issues of Simon’s anger,
any Abbot with any sense who encountered Simon in his present
condition would, judging from Simon’s email correspondence to us,
get rid of Simon in a very short time. The Abbot would be unleashing
a terror on the Orthodox Church if he kept Simon and tonsured him—to
whatever rank of the monastic state. Indeed, in our opinion any Abbot
who didn’t immediately get rid of Simon would be of very
questionable judgement, an Abbot that we would recommend against,
even for Simon: Simon, we go to the monastery to learn, not to teach
the Abbot what the proper practice of the Church should be. In your
present condition it’s impossible for you to become a monk—you
have to fix your basic Gospel orientation—but even after you
rectify your basic Gospel orientation and still want to become a
monk, you are going to need a sound Abbot who isn’t going to put up
with your anger and pride. Again, there is material on this in the
<i>Ladder. </i>If we recall correctly, a novice with great pride was
sent permanently to the gate of the monastery to make prostrations to
all persons entering and leaving the monastery, asking them to pray
for him since he was an epileptic (demoniac). This went on for
something like 17 years. The man died a novice.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
strongly recommend that Simon read the <i>Ladder.</i> We recommend
the translation by Lazarus Moore published by Holy Transfiguration
Monastery. We have the impression that it is out of print so he will
have to search for it. We do not recommend the other translation,
although that translation has a good introduction by Metropolitan
Kallistos (Ware). The introduction to the Moore translation isn’t
by Moore and is not up to the level of Moore’s translation.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is
Simon a hopeless case for monasticism? In his present condition, yes.
Can he change? Yes. But he has to realize that he’s on the wrong
road and repent. He will have to do serious work with his priest.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another
aspect of Simon’s emails that struck us was his inability or
unwillingness to read exactly what we wrote. We are a careful writer
although somewhat recondite and normally we speak with precision.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Simon
misquoted us on our statement, ‘Your attitude suggests that you are
far from a monastic in spirit and that you will have serious
difficulties.’</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Simon
played this back to us as: ‘You cannot know whether I am ‘far
from a monastic spirit’ and that I have an ‘attitude’ just
because I see an inconsistency in sacramental theology.’ This is
not exactly what we said.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moreover,
Simon obviously didn’t read our posts carefully because he
completely misses our intention to reply in detail in due course
(despite our disinclination to do so).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We are
emphasizing these things because we fear that Simon will not take the
time to read this post carefully and to make a serious effort to
understand what exactly it is we are saying. This creates two
problems. The first problem is that we don’t want to engage in a
slanging match with Simon, especially about things that Simon has
misinterpreted. (Leave us alone, Simon. No one knows who you are.)</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
second problem that we fear</span></span></span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">is
that Simon will have interior pre-existing psychological states and
feelings triggered by what he thinks he is reading in our post,
things with no foundation in what we’ve written in our post. In
other words, just as Simon’s habitual anger was triggered by our
response even though our response did not warrant such anger, we fear
that Simon will have other psychological reactions triggered by this
post that are not warranted by the content of the post.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; margin-bottom: 0.2cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To be
clear what our message is, then, we are saying, Simon, that in your
present condition you are not suitable for the monastic state. We are
also holding out the hope that in the future you might be suitable
for the monastic state if you do a lot a work on your anger, pride
and inability to hear what the other person is saying. This is
something you should discuss in detail with your priest. Don’t
listen to your thoughts; they are confusing you. Print this post out
and take it to your priest. Have him read it. Discuss it with him. If
he tells you that we, Orthodox Monk, ‘don't know crap about what …
[we] believe and aren't interested in rhetoric,’ well we agree and
that’s a good reason for you to leave us alone and go your way.</span></span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-72515503766124181342012-11-13T21:13:00.000+00:002012-11-14T02:02:09.854+00:00Future Monk? 3<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The
email correspondence with Mr Jaguar continued. Here is the complete
correspondence since Future Monk? 1. We will be posting our
considered reply to all of this as soon as possible.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">First
we have Mr Jaguar’s response to Future Monk? 2:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">What the hell? You didn't reply to m<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">y</span>
e-mail. You just posted it and assumed the reader would get your
point.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I thought the purpose of your site was
education. That's what I'm seeking from you. Apparently you don't
know crap about what you believe and aren't interested in rhetoric.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You are like the fundamentalist
protestant church I left where they tell you to just accept and not
question. You are not monastic in spirit, because the monastics are
interested enriching the church. Instead, you just want to brag to
the world about how spiritual you are.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">To
which we replied:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Can I post your email and reply to it?</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">If you look carefully at the posts you
will see that I specifically said that I was going to reply to your
emails in due course; however, I first wanted to solicit reader
comment.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Orthodox Monk</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">To
which Mr Jaguar replied:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">No.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">He
then sent this additional note before we had a chance to respond:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">You did not specifically state it because
the only thing you mentioned at the end was: “We are almost of the
opinion that the exchange needs no comment since it speaks for
itself.” The reader is left with the belief that you will not
comment as you vaguely alluded to above.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">To
which we replied:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Read the whole post of Future Monk? 1.
The first paragraph reads:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">We received an email from someone in
America. Let us call him Simon Jaguar. We would like to present the
full email exchange for our readers to think about before we comment
on the content of Mr Jaguar’s emails. We solicit comments from our
readers on this email exchange whether by email—preferred—or by
the comment form. <b>We will then in due course discuss the content
of the email exchange.</b> We have edited Mr Jaguar’s emails for
spelling, grammar and style.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In the second post, Future Monk? 2, the
last paragraph reads:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 2cm; margin-right: 2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b>Mr Cheetah has raised some important
issues which we will discuss in due course. </b>(There’s a whole
cat family for other commenters.)</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">If you won't accept for us to post the
whole (anonymized) correspondence, we're not going to discuss any of
it.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Orthodox Monk</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">To
which Mr Jaguar replied:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Fair enough. The ending of Future Monk? 1
threw me off, but I see now what you mean.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">He
later sent the following note:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">I apologize for speaking rashly then.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">To
which we replied.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Okay.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Orthodox Monk</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0.2cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">As
we said, we will post our considered reply as soon as possible.</span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17052672.post-90828289899860305752012-11-11T22:07:00.000+00:002012-11-11T22:09:07.816+00:00Future Monk? 2
<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">We
received an email </span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">comment
on Future Monk? 1 from someone, l</span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">et
us call him </span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">James
Cheetah</span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
We have edited </span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Mr
</span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Cheetah’s
email</span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
for spelling, grammar and style.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Dear
Orthodox Monk,</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-style: normal; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">I
was actually about to send you an email concerning some of your
previous posts, however when I saw the latest post, and especially
since you ask for ‘reader comments’, I thought I would send in a
‘reader comment’; perhaps I shall soon ask my previous questions
in another email.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">On
my first reading I raised an eyebrow when ‘Simon’ signed himself
of as “Future Monk”. I must confess I had assumed he was a
Protestant up until that stage. On seeing your reply I was somewhat
taken aback, and on his response was shocked. Perhaps culturally I am
used to a somewhat less direct manner of expression.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">I
suppose I expected you to reply to his primary question about the
various tonsures. I don't know anything particularly on the subject
beyond some of your previous posts, but I do recall you questioning
the advisability of a rasophore monk leaving the monastery and
getting married. Obviously this was what Simon expected.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">It
is (if I may engage in the process of judging and hypocrisy) clear
that Simon has some work to do before entering a monastery especially
given his second email. If I may take the liberty of speculation it
seems likely to me that he is a convert and that he has been
attracted to Orthodoxy through the more academic, somewhat more
liberal and critical, type of Orthodoxy, and that he is now
encountering the relative conservatism that characterizes much of the
Orthodox laity (he complains about this in his second email). Some of
his definitions later on in his first email suggest this: e.g.
“Orthodoxy is not a system; it is a teaching.” The ‘academic’
type does, at times, seem to betray this somewhat Protestant attitude
towards Orthodox theology of actually looking for errors, and then
trying to correct them. Simon’s first email certainly shows this
attitude. I also (perhaps I am too ignorant) struggle to see the
actual ‘problem’ that Simon has ‘spotted’, beyond the
rasophore issue that you have blogged about before.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">As
for the second email, I think it speaks for itself. Perhaps he does
not understand that it was the attitude not the content </span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">per
se </span></i></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">of
the first email, which was your cause for concern (I assume [correct
– Orthodox Monk])? The second email shows this very clearly.
Perhaps he was somewhat stung that you did not reply to his actual
question. I would certainly say that your recommendation that Simon
might wish to show this correspondence to his spiritual father is a
good idea, especially given his second email.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Wishing
you and Simon the best,</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">In
Christ,</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">James,
hypocrite</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">P.S.
Obviously I gi<span style="font-size: small;">ve you </span>permission to discuss, edit etc. my email
in your blog if you wish but could you also please keep me anonymous.
Thank you.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Just
a bit of clarification from Orthodox Monk. We actually didn’t want
to discuss Mr Jaguar’s email on the blog. We thought that the
attitude manifested in his first email was quite unmonastic and
simply replied by email that we didn’t want to deal with the
matter, etc. Our full reply is given in the last post. </span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Moreover,
we don’t know what it means to ‘have an attitude’. What we
meant is that Mr Jaguar’s attitude (everyone has some attitude) was
unmonastic. </span></span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">However,
when Mr Jaguar insisted on replying to us we thought that the only
thing to do was to discuss his email on the blog, despite our
preference to leave the matter alone.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Mr
Cheetah has raised some important issues which we will discuss in due
course. (There’s a whole cat family for other commenters.)</span></span></span></span></span></div>
Orthodox Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07240761033816443587noreply@blogger.com0